Yesterday I had to go shopping. Now this wasn’t just a quick trip to the store for a gallon of milk. No, I had lots of things on my list to buy at the mall and several other large stores in the big city. It took one whole hour just to drive there, and I ended up spending most of the day going from store to store in search of all the items that I needed.
Do you like to go shopping? I don’t. And I certainly don’t enjoy it when it takes a whole day and the stores are full of people. That makes it even harder to find what you want to buy. If I were going to a toy store, you might be glad to come along with me, but I think you would have found it very tiresome to spend your Saturday in all those stores.
At one place I had to wait in line to speak with a clerk. While she was waiting on the people in front of me (and taking a long, long time!), a man came up to the front of the line. He interrupted the clerk and let her know that he was not satisfied with the item that he had bought at that store several days before. He was very upset. He demanded that she exchange the product for another one and give him money back for the time it took him to return it to the store. He was pretty rude, wasn’t he?
I went to another store to look for some clothes. Near me, a mother was shopping with her young daughter. She asked the little girl if one type of clothes would do. No, the girl insisted that she would only be satisfied with a certain expensive, name-brand style. She was only four or five years old and had no idea how much money the clothes would cost. But she still was learning to act greedy and dissatisfied with her mother’s choices for her, wasn’t she?
I found the clothes I wanted to buy and got into a line to pay for them. There were many people in front of me, also waiting to pay for their purchases. After a while, I realized that the line wasn’t moving, so I switched to a different line. It was then that I heard the checkout girl for the first line calling out for another checkout person to take her place. It was time for her to go home for the day. It didn’t matter to her that all those people were waiting in line; she was not going to work another minute longer. She was pretty selfish and uncaring, wasn’t she?
By now you’re really glad you didn’t have to come with me, aren’t you? It’s not much fun to meet rude or greedy or selfish people. Whether we’re at the mall or school or the playground, we’d really rather not be around those kinds of people.
But wait a minute! Have I ever been rude to anyone? Have I ever acted greedy or dissatisfied with something? Have I behaved selfishly towards my brother or my sister or anyone else? I am ashamed to admit that I have done all these things, and many more. I’m no better than any of those people that I watched at the stores. Their behavior is just like a mirror, showing me what my own heart is like.
The Bible says, “There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-2322Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:22‑23)). Lots of awful things can come out of my natural, sinful heart, including “evil thoughts,” “covetousness” (wanting what someone else has), “pride” and “foolishness” (Mark 7:21-2221For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: (Mark 7:21‑22)). And even worse, if I don’t do something about these terrible sins, they will land me in hell forever, with no hope of any escape.
What can I do? Nothing. Nothing, that is, but “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). I could never wipe the record clean of all my sins to satisfy God. But His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, has done just that for me. He suffered punishment from God on the cross for all of my sins. He died and shed His blood, that precious “blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son [which] cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
In addition to cleansing me from sin, He has given me eternal life, a new nature that delights to please the Lord Jesus. How does this new life behave? “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [or self-control]” (Galatians 5:2223). These are the pleasant habits of a person whose sins have been forgiven and who lives to please the Lord Jesus, his Saviour. Is this true of you?
ML-04/08/2001