Growing up, anyone who was stingy was also called a cheapskate; kids who didn’t like to share. “Don’t hide, divide” was my friend, Angel’s favorite saying. A few years ago, when an ad, which said, “Alone at last…” first aired, it reminded me of how growing up, whether we shared or not, we all wanted at least one alone moment, but rarely found it.
We’ve all noticed, how in recent years, contents or portions have gotten smaller while prices have continued to climb. I recently bought a paint roller wire frame. It came all wrapped in cellophane. After opening it, I realized the end cap wasn’t riveted but had a small nut on two threads and there wasn’t a snug fit. Obviously, the roller cover kept sliding off. With longnose pliers, I was able to fix it.
I was telling my wife that years ago, you just picked up items and expected them to work. But in pursuit of the mighty dollar, things now appear under various categories: cheap, cheaper, cheapest. Cheap, lasts a few weeks or months. Cheaper, usually breaks after a few uses. Sometimes, cheapest is held together by the cellophane it’s wrapped in! Tear it off, and there goes your item. Of course, in Puerto Rico, where that’s the norm, if you attempt to return such item, you’ll be told that “Probably, you tore off the wrapper too hard!” *Here, it’s the norm for businesses to sell the cheapest, smallest, or least number of items, for the highest possible price. That’s the norm.
Just as many of us want quality things and for stuff to last long, God wants the same from us. He neither wants us to be in the cheap category, or to be a cheapskate. He wants us to share with others things of value and worth. He didn’t tell His disciples to secretly hide the bread and the fish; No! He multiplied them and fed over 5,000 people! His death on the cross didn’t come cheaply either, neither was He cheap with our salvation. He didn’t take the easy way out.
He didn’t say, “Hey, what he doesn’t know, won’t hurt him.” He also didn’t feign His death as a religious group claims; neither did He faint at the cross and walk away, without fulfilling what He came for, as some believe! No, He paid the ultimate price, and a full price at that. It cost Him His life. He didn’t pay with cheap stuff like silver, gold, or precious jewels; He paid sacrificially with His blood and life. Being God in nature, He paid as King of the universe. His sacrificial death can never be equaled or replicated. Let’s leave the way of “cheap” behind!
Maybe your life feels like it’s being held together by a cellophane wrapper; remove it, and you’ll fall apart. Let Jesus hold you together! To Him, you’re not a cheap object; you’re priceless!
God Bless!
Sam