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Limited Time...Special Offer
Friday, June 23 2006 @ 03:40 PM EDT
Contributed by: JoeNamyst

Limited Time - Special Offer
LIMITED TIME - SPECIAL OFFER There you are in the check-out line at the grocery store. You have your two items. And the lady in front of you has her two carts full. She not only has over two hundred items, she has several monkeys dressed like children. The monkeys swing from cart to cart and ask several dozen times for some particularly useless item they have seen. To make matters worse, the lady has a coupon for every item she has purchased. You stand looking at your watch and tapping your foot, as you listen to the whimpers and moans of the children and the clicking of the register, as it deducts the forty-second coupon. Ever been there? I have! Next time that happens to you, take a moment and introduce yourself to my wife and children. Look around, I may be nearby as well. This is really about coupons; not an attack on my wife or children. People like coupons; they're almost as good as money. They have the value printed right on them. I once read, over eighty percent of all Americans clip coupons. I imagine, most people have at least one of them in their purse or wallet at any given time. I know I often do (a whole file-card box full if my wife is with me.) I am truly grateful for coupons. What we save by using coupons goes to make other aspects of our lives a little better. The big problem I have with coupons is remembering to take them out and use them. They won't save you anything if you don't redeem them. How about that expiration date? Many times I've gone to use a coupon; only to find it has expired. I have, on occasion, accidentally tried to redeem a coupon for something I didn't purchase. So, even a simple thing like redeeming a coupon can be tricky if we don't do it correctly. I was thinking about a coupon I've seen in the Bible many times. I wonder how many people have had this coupon right in their hand and neglected to give it to the "Cashier." I've heard people talk specifically about this coupon, often without truly knowing its value or what to do with it. You never saw a coupon in the Bible? If you never saw it, take a moment and look at it. Better yet, redeem it if you never have. The coupon can be found in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Now that's a coupon! Everlasting life - ours for the taking - if we only believe. But everybody says, "I believe in Jesus." Even Satan believes in Jesus. So what is this belief? I'm talking about taking this coupon to the "Cashier" for redemption. We can't just carry it around in our head and expect it to do us any good. We've got to take it out and use it. To "entrust" is the best way to describe the word "believeth" as it appears in the Bible. It's not just a head-knowledge. It is placing our will and our lives into the hands of God, realizing that without Christ we are without hope. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9 tells us that belief in and commitment to Christ go hand in hand. The day Christ hung on the cross with a thief on either side is a perfect example (perhaps planned that way). Both thieves could see that Jesus was real. Therefore, they both believed in Jesus, but only one "entrusted" his life to Christ. The way my Bible reads, only one of the thieves took advantage of this coupon. So, only one received the "Manufacturers" rebate: EVERLASTING LIFE, as the coupon states. I guess, coupons have been around longer than many of us realize. People have been redeeming them for thousands of years. Isn't it great; this coupon hasn't expired. Unfortunately, people do, and many take their coupon with them without using it. If you haven't taken time to redeem your coupon, please do, before your expiration date. This is one coupon you can't afford to just carry around in your pocket. Manufacturers coupon expires: when you do ETERNAL LIFE CONSUMER: Offer good to whosoever believeth. Coupon may be shared, but must be redeemed in person. MANUFACTURER: will redeem this coupon if: the consumer will confess the Lord Jesus with their mouth, and believe in their heart that Jesus rose from the dead.