With five growing kids, we got new shoes at times of the year when we could save money and get the most wear from them. Easter dress shoes, summer flip flops, and school oxfords or tennis shoes were typical for us. We didn’t want for footwear but, oh the dreams of this girly-girl to have shoes matching her outfits.
As a thirty-something, I attained a measure of that silly school girl dream. One of the local discount stores had pumps for five dollars a pair. I had at least ten different colors to match my dresses; how uptown I felt with a rainbow of shoes from which to choose!
One day I had on the red pumps as I stopped by the mall on the way home from work. With errands to accomplish, I was rushing through one business after another. Roughly thirty minutes into my task, it felt like I was walking on white-hot coals covered with scalding water. Miserable, I was tempted to take those pretty, little shoes and throw them in the trash. Instead, I stepped into a shoe store.
Explaining my dilemma to the salesman, he asked to see one of my shoes. He pointed out the ‘all man-made materials’ label. He told me my feet were overheating from the lack of breathable material. I told him I wanted a pair of leather dress pumps in flat black, as opposed to shiny patent leather, with heels no higher than 2 ½” and under $50. I gave him my size thinking no way would my feet go back in those cheap shoes.
When I got home, the kaleidoscope of shoes in the floor of my closet went out the door. Inexpensive they may have been, but there were ruining my tootsies. Believe me when I say, if your feet hurt, you get a bit grumpy. I didn’t want to ruin my sunny disposition because of sore feet. A $49 investment over twenty-five years ago continues to reap dividends today.
I attended a private Methodist funded college. One of the required courses designed to raise awareness of different religious doctrine while increasing our tolerance level to other views was World Religions. As much as I disliked the exposure to all this propaganda, I’m glad I took the class. The enlightenment has served me well throughout the thirty plus years since then.
Know what I found that semester? All but one religion were founded and developed by a man; all but one present writings inspired and written by that same man. All but one requires we ‘earn’ our way to a better future. Some even offer the option of a ‘do-over’ to try again to obtain the next level up in the structure of society. But, if you messed up in this life, you might return at a lower level.
Some have so many rules none of us could ever measure up! Some are more intolerant than I could ever be yet they call me narrow-minded or want to kill me for believing different from them. Some have multiple gods of men or women possessing some super human strength or beauty. If you don’t believe me, research it, you can find all the information on the web. There are those we’ve heard of and some not so well-known, far too many to list here. Using the phrase, ‘origins of world religions’ for the search, we get a history timeline of world religions and its founders with over sixty-five entries.
Christianity is the only religion based on one God; the only religion where the text has been proven again and again through archeological finds. Our God inspired the written word, guiding His elect to pen the knowledge so we know how to live. God’s word tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
God doesn’t need us but He wants us, “For God so loved the world He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17 What a beautiful gift. Free without strings to earn it or to keep it!
Only one investment continues to pay dividends throughout eternity – Jesus. Isn’t it time to focus on the only proven truth? Is now the time to not only accept the insurance but revel in the assurance of your future? Is this the day to throw out those man-made materials for real, abundant, life?
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 (NKJV)
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