May 9, 2008

God in retail.

Hey Loves.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:3-5

This verse has always stuck out to me, and who would have thunk but working at Express has helped me understand God and know why I get so excited reading this verse...

Bear with me, especially you boys, as I explain.

Here's how the story goes.

There’s a sale going on at Express right now. Every sweater in the store is 40% off.

My manager is prepping me for the day. She informs me that every sweater in the store is 40% off. She says, "How ‘bout this red sweater? Oh, it's on sale. And this cashmere green one? On sale too. And the new spring collection? On sale. the? the? They’re all on sale." I have to laugh as she's saying all of this because it's so obvious, right? Every sweater in the store means every sweater. There weren't any conditions (that would be false advertising or something like that).

So anyway, the day starts and people come in. "Hey, how are you today?" I say, (as I greatly appreciate the customers who acknowledge my existence, ha) "every sweater in the store is 40% off."

Oh, if you could only see their reactions:

"Every sweater?"

"Every sweater in the store?"

"Well, I was looking at this one a week ago, but if it's 40% off well, then…"

"Wow!"

"Really? Thanks so much."

...and so on.

How in the world can Express reflect Christ?

Pretend you are a shopper. You're looking for something, right? You want something more, whether to give to someone or maybe something just for yourself; nonetheless, you’re looking. However, shopping is expensive, and at times you may want that something more and you're looking for it, but you know you just can't afford it. That is until I come into the picture and tell you that all the sweaters are discounted. Yeah right, you think. So you test me...Every sweater? This one? And this one? What about that one? As I continue to tell the shoppers that every sweater is 40% off they get this freedom. You can imagine them thinking, oh, I can do this. Yeah, it's not so bad. I'm kind of excited about shopping now.

Now pretend you are a shopper in our race here on earth. You're looking for something right? You want something more, or you may have it and want to give it to someone else. However, life is expensive. You make wrong choices and you get bogged down by how much your choices cost. That is, until Christ comes into the picture and tells you that all your sins are discounted and not as a percentage but rather, He completely discounts your sins altogether. As in totally forgotten about. Non existent. Yeah right, you think. So you test Christ...Every sin, this one? This one? What about that one? As Christ continuously tells you that every sin is forgiven you suddenly get this freedom as you begin to think, oh, I can do this. Yeah, it's not so bad. I can run this race. In fact, I’m pretty excited about running now.

Cheering you on as you come to find Christ and His mercy.

May you come to know that all your sins are discounted. May you live in the freedom that God has forgiven you. May you be excited to live and run this race. And may you realize that this feeling is only a glimpse, a glimpse of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade - kept in heaven for you. And may you react like the shoppers at Express and say, "Wow, Thanks God. That's awesome. I was looking at this sin a while ago, but if you say it's forgiven then I’m going to keep going. Thanks God.

Kaylee

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