“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Deuteronomy 8:18
I was standing in line at the Dollar Tree where everything’s… well… you know! The lady in front of me was having her purchases checked out… MOSTLY! There was a problem! PRETENDING not to notice, the time ticked by until, after much internal struggle, I started to get a little ticked. She was waiting for someone in her family to bring something to the checkout. I waited some more.
The mystery before me began to get more interesting as I played my part with unusual calm. Glancing at the lady, she looked sheepish. The Checkout guy was growing pensive. When the lady said, “my daughter,” that was all I needed to hear. She then added, in frustration, “go ahead and check me out.” And He did.
As soon as her credit card cleared, ‘daughter’ came running up, out of breath, saying, “I found it!” ‘It,’ mom explained, was a necessary element for a school report due… you guessed it again… TOMORROW! Cost? You guessed it again… a dollar! But she didn’t HAVE a dollar! And time stood still!
The silence was only about 2.7 seconds. But it seemed like 5 minutes as everyone felt embarrassment. That is, everyone but me. Shocking, huh? Though I hadn’t planned it, it just came out… “Please put that on my bill. I’d be happy to pay for it!” It was then that the heavens opened and… well.. let’s not go TOO far!
It was a DOLLAR! NO BIG DEAL! The truth? I was more in a hurry than I was upset. And a DOLLAR saved me some time? But what happened AFTER I paid it was almost embarrassing. You’d have thought I’d given them a Corvette, they were so happy! One thank you led to another and I finally had to say… “hey.. it’s no big deal.” And it wasn’t. Until it became one!
Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the bend. This little $1 illustration served to REMIND me that, as God’s son, I hadn’t been as generously minded lately as He would like. The joy it invoked in me made me smile inside… AND then dedicate myself to doing more of it. NOT because I HAVE TO or even because it makes ME feel good. But because the action of ‘giving’ glorifies God as HE becomes my eyes and ears!
I am praying and formulating a GOD plan for how to be a secret agent for God in THIS Holiday season. MAYBE this just jarred something in YOUR heart and mind as well. If so.. why not ‘check out” the plan He may be formulating in you! What have YOU got to lose? A DOLLAR?
