It appeared like a great deal.
I was on an online shopping site looking for an office product and was doing comparison shopping. Most of the listed prices were within a dollar of each other but one stood out. It was more than 80% cheaper than the rest. Wow! I was so fortunate to have stumbled upon this. Buyer beware. The fine print under it was telling. There was a huge markup on the shipping charge that brought the final price to more than the other listings. Good deal indeed!
When one does additional due diligence and reads the fine print, the hidden costs of an apparently good deal may be laid bare. This applies to shopping and is applicable to the choices we make in our spiritual relationships. God delivered the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and miraculously brought them to the Promised Land, by inflicting a frightening series of ten plagues that demoralized the Egyptian Pharoah who finally relented and released them. After their safe delivery, God met with their leader Moses on the top of Mount Sinai (also known as Horeb) and bestowed upon him the ten commandments. This took forty days and during this time the Hebrews wavered in their trust and faith in God, thinking that Moses would not return and demanded that a new god be made to lead them.
They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior…
Psalms 106:19-21 (ESV)
Instead of trusting in God’s promises and remembering what He did for them, the ancient Hebrews exchanged the glory of the living God for a dead and inanimate idol of their own imagination. They quickly abandoned God who had revealed His power to them to worship an unknown god that was powerless. It sounded like a good deal!
For years, I exchanged the glory of the living God, Jesus Christ, for the dead and inanimate idols of power and success. It sounded like a great deal to the ancient Hebrews. It sounded like a good deal for me. Thanks be to God that He brought me to my senses and revealed the fine print that was underlying the false promises of following this lifestyle. The false idols of this life will never lead to salvation and eternal life.
Good deal?
There is only one who is Good, Jesus Christ, the Living God.
Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.
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