Exchange Policy

The other day, my air conditioner stopped working and I had to schedule a repair.

I was going to have to wait at least two days as the repairman had a number of calls ahead of mine.

With the forecast calling for unseasonably warm temperatures I decided to purchase a new fan.

I felt I would be more comfortable with at least some air circulating in the room.

I stopped by the store and looked over the selection of fans that they had in stock.

One model in particular caught my eye because of both its features and its price.

It happened to be the only one like it that they had in stock.

When I picked the box up from the shelf I noticed that it had been opened before and very carefully taped back shut.

There was a sales clerk in that department so I asked him about it.

He apologized for the box having been opened and he was nice enough to explain the situation to me.

It turns out that someone had purchased the fan and taken it home.

They opened the box and saw the amount of assembly required and the size of the instruction booklet that came with it.

They decided not to invest this amount of effort.

They promptly returned it to the store and exchanged it for a simpler model.

The clerk assured me that every component originally in the box was accounted for.

I purchased the fan and took it home.

I unpacked all the parts and got out my tools.

Then, before I so much as turned a single screw, I did something very important.

I read the assembly instructions.

Once I had familiarized myself with them I began to assemble the fan.

I kept the instructions close at hand and within an hour I had it assembled.

I plugged it in and tested it to make certain that it worked.

Having done that, I next read the operating instructions in order to familiarize myself with all its features.

As I write this in the comfort of its cool and refreshing breeze I am struck by the similarity this has to our faith.

Salvation is God's gift of grace to us but after we accept it there comes a certain amount of effort on our part.

We are to do the things which please Him.

We are also to refrain from doing those things which displease Him.

Fortunately for us, He gives us the tools we need to do this.

He also gives us a marvelous instruction book to help us make sense of it all.

That book is the Bible and we should make reading it a regular part of our lives.

2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

It is said that the Bible is the best selling book of all time.

It does not fulfill its purpose when it sits on a shelf unread.

We have choices.

We can accept God's gift and all that comes with it, or, we take one quick glance inside the box and return it.

The hardest and most painful work has already been done for us.

Shouldn't we be willing to do our small part in return?


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The  Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, May 2, 2014.
I’ll be back here on Friday, May 9, 2014