Of Grocery Store Check-Out Lines and Prayer
Have you noticed the things that are on the shelves for you to peruse while you wait your turn in your local grocery store check out line?
Everything there is of course designed to play against our wants, desires, and weaknesses. First there are the tabloids and the so-called "women's" magazines (complete with pornographic pictures on the cover). I suppose the tabloids are there to fill their readers with trivia about celebrities personal lives, so that they may some how feel better about the mess their lives are in. The so-called "women's" magazines are apparently about convincing women that they are unhappy because they are overweight prudes, and of course the secrets to becoming happy like the 3/4 naked, 1/2 starved child pictured on the cover are enclosed within.
Then there are the candies and snacks, to console those who are convicted by the "women's" magazine but don't believe in the "secrets" that they are selling. The candies are there to entice the children into misbehaving enough to get their parent to buy them something, as well.
Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention the pocket astrology books. These are available for the shopper who sees all of the problems in life and knows that the answers don't lie in the tabloids (they only make you feel better because other people are worse), or the "women's" magazines (they don't make you feel better at all), or the candy (a moments pleasure which adds to the problems instead of taking away from it).
The pocket astrology books point to a higher power, the stars. And for a few pennies the astrologers will interpret them for you. If the astrologers tell you the stars declare anything other than the glory of the God who created them (Psalm 19:1), His righteousness (Psalm 97:6), or in some other way reflect their Creator, then the astrologer is wrong. They have a pretty dismal record, even considering that they try to be as broad as possible with their predictions.
The God of the Bible, on the other hand has a remarkable record. He's been 100% accurate with His predictions. For example, in the book of Daniel, the exact day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem before His crucifixion was predicted. The prophesies in Daniel are so detailed and so accurate in their fulfilment, that many liberal scholars used that very accuracy to argue that Daniel must have been written after the fact. Then the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The Dead Sea Scrolls contained pieces of a Daniel scroll that was written nearly 200 years before Jesus was born! But I digress.
To the Christian, the grocery store line should perhaps be used as a training area. Don't look at the magazines written by unhappy lost people trying to give advice on how to be happy and satisfied. Don't read the tabloids which only tear people down. Use the candy and snacks as a chance to learn (or teach the children) self discipline. And by all means avoid the astrology books, nothing good can come from them. Instead, use the time to pray!
You don't have to bow your head and close your eyes, in order to pray. Prayer is talking to God. He knows our thoughts (1 Chronicles 28:9), so just think the prayer. Beside Paul says we should "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17) we can't go through our lives walking around (Or driving our cars!) with our heads bowed and eyes closed. Then again, considering all that is to be seen in the check out line, maybe eyes closed and head bowed is the way to go!
Other times to pray include: when stuck in traffic during the commute, when waiting in line at the ATM or Bank, while waiting for the computer to boot, while walking the dog. The traffic thing is a real blessing! Instead of getting upset at the school bus, or the slow driver, praise God because you now know that He has set up this opportunity for prayer! The change in your attitude alone is worth it.
(Thanks go to my pastor, David McGee, for the praying while waiting lesson!)
Everything there is of course designed to play against our wants, desires, and weaknesses. First there are the tabloids and the so-called "women's" magazines (complete with pornographic pictures on the cover). I suppose the tabloids are there to fill their readers with trivia about celebrities personal lives, so that they may some how feel better about the mess their lives are in. The so-called "women's" magazines are apparently about convincing women that they are unhappy because they are overweight prudes, and of course the secrets to becoming happy like the 3/4 naked, 1/2 starved child pictured on the cover are enclosed within.
Then there are the candies and snacks, to console those who are convicted by the "women's" magazine but don't believe in the "secrets" that they are selling. The candies are there to entice the children into misbehaving enough to get their parent to buy them something, as well.
Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention the pocket astrology books. These are available for the shopper who sees all of the problems in life and knows that the answers don't lie in the tabloids (they only make you feel better because other people are worse), or the "women's" magazines (they don't make you feel better at all), or the candy (a moments pleasure which adds to the problems instead of taking away from it).
The pocket astrology books point to a higher power, the stars. And for a few pennies the astrologers will interpret them for you. If the astrologers tell you the stars declare anything other than the glory of the God who created them (Psalm 19:1), His righteousness (Psalm 97:6), or in some other way reflect their Creator, then the astrologer is wrong. They have a pretty dismal record, even considering that they try to be as broad as possible with their predictions.
The God of the Bible, on the other hand has a remarkable record. He's been 100% accurate with His predictions. For example, in the book of Daniel, the exact day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem before His crucifixion was predicted. The prophesies in Daniel are so detailed and so accurate in their fulfilment, that many liberal scholars used that very accuracy to argue that Daniel must have been written after the fact. Then the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The Dead Sea Scrolls contained pieces of a Daniel scroll that was written nearly 200 years before Jesus was born! But I digress.
To the Christian, the grocery store line should perhaps be used as a training area. Don't look at the magazines written by unhappy lost people trying to give advice on how to be happy and satisfied. Don't read the tabloids which only tear people down. Use the candy and snacks as a chance to learn (or teach the children) self discipline. And by all means avoid the astrology books, nothing good can come from them. Instead, use the time to pray!
You don't have to bow your head and close your eyes, in order to pray. Prayer is talking to God. He knows our thoughts (1 Chronicles 28:9), so just think the prayer. Beside Paul says we should "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17) we can't go through our lives walking around (Or driving our cars!) with our heads bowed and eyes closed. Then again, considering all that is to be seen in the check out line, maybe eyes closed and head bowed is the way to go!
Other times to pray include: when stuck in traffic during the commute, when waiting in line at the ATM or Bank, while waiting for the computer to boot, while walking the dog. The traffic thing is a real blessing! Instead of getting upset at the school bus, or the slow driver, praise God because you now know that He has set up this opportunity for prayer! The change in your attitude alone is worth it.
(Thanks go to my pastor, David McGee, for the praying while waiting lesson!)
posted by Bryan at 5:15 PM
2 Comments:
hey, the link for David McGee returns: "You are not authorized to view this resource.
You need to login."
Thanks for letting me know! It has been fixed.
It is a link to the "About Our Pastor" page on the Calvary Chapel of the Triad webpage, just in case. ;-)
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