Our family has an out of town guest arriving in a few days.
In preparation for the guest, I made a mental list of what I want to have available. New blanket, new sheets (I just take sheets off the bed, wash them, and put them back. I avoid a lot of sheet folding stress that way.)
Armed with my mental list, I clicked to my favorite shopping place, Amazon, to order a couple things necessary to accommodate our guest and assure their comfort. Today is the guaranteed delivery date.
As I thought on that this morning, my mind meandered to the way I handled that situation. With a few clicks and a guaranteed delivery date, the need was addressed, the transaction complete. I hit the “x” in the corner and looked for confirmation in my inbox. “That’s done”, I remember thinking.
I am almost embarrassed to share the way that memory took a sharp turn, but “I yam what I yam” (as a now likely unknown animated figure would say), and I’m curious to see if I am the only one.
While I was congratulating myself on how simple it was to get the solution, I thought, “I really like Prime.”
And then, (has this ever happened to you?) in my mind I heard “Ahem”. I knew the brain train was getting ready to go around a curve. I’ve learned when that happens that I’m going to be made better because of this moment, so I just take a deep breath, a big gulp, and say, “Yes?” because I want the Holy Spirit to tell me when and where I’m missing it. If I miss it in the day to day, I’ll miss it in the major issues. I’ve been there, and it doesn’t bode well.
“What do you like about Prime?” the other Person in my head asked.
“I like that I find out they have it, I request, they give me a guaranteed delivery and I don’t have to give it another thought” and in two days I can go to the porch and pick it up. Done deal.”
I could almost hear the cringe coming, if it’s even possible to hear a cringe, as this came to my mind…
Mark 11: 22-24. So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
And I asked myself, “Does my thought life ever indicate that I trust Prime more than I believe God? Is my expectation of Amazon’s delivery higher than that of God’s word? In comparison, do I pray and then ‘click the “x” ‘ and know it’s finished? Do I do it sometimes? Do I do it consistently, confidently?”
Those questions need to be answered. Change needs to come. God who cannot lie and does not change His mind deserves better, more reverent trust than anyone else or natural guarantees. The proof of God’s faithfulness to His “delivery system” was in the prophecies of old and the promise fulfilled. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4)
As we celebrate Jesus’ birth, may we (or only me, whichever is true) be changed to truly, largely, totally, understand the cost to God of the guarantee He made to us.
Unto us a child IS born, Unto us a Savior IS given. He is. Done deal. Now that’s prime.
For His Glory 