Returns

            On a scale of 1-10, I rate returning items to a store, at best, a 3.  Several weeks ago I found myself involved in this very activity. This was not your average shirt that did not fit, this was a major purchase!  To add to the experience, we had lost the receipt proving our purchase of the item.  But the item needed to go back, so I loaded it up in the van and struck off for the store, prepared for an unpleasant experience.  On the way, I rehearsed the conversation I would no doubt encounter. I knew they were going to ask me for a receipt and question me about its absence and my reasons for the return.  But I was determined to argue my case and win.  However, none of what I anticipated happened.  When I arrived at the store, a computer terminal automatically cared for my lack of a receipt.  A warehouse man appeared with a hand truck, giving me both a receipt and instructions on how to get my money then whisked my return away behind the swinging doors from whence he came.  The clerk at the counter, to whom I was sent, finalized the transaction without question or concern.  In five minutes, the entire issue was resolved. I came away from this experience with two realizations: 1. The particular store had a great return policy, 2. My fears were unfounded.

God has a great return policy.  However, like me, many are reluctant to take advantage of the option because we anticipate a negative experience.  We are just sure that the cost will be to high; that God will demand too much to take us back.  Or, we are convinced that we have exposed ourselves to too much abuse, making us unfit or unacceptable.  (Sin does exact an unusual amount of wear and tear upon a person.)  Some are just afraid of rejection itself; that God will turn us down, despite our explanations and desires.  But none of these concerns are accurate.  God has paid the price for our return by His own life.  His rejuvenation process can transform even the most hideous and desperate of people, making us new creatures in Him.  He never refuses a return for lack of receipt, for His wounds are the proof of purchase.

But perhaps the greatest barrier to our return to God is not knowing how to go about it.  The experience is simple; so simple that even a child can do it.  It takes three steps: 1. Faith: believe that God loves you and has died for your sins.  2. Confession: admitting to God your sins and failures.  3. Forgiveness: ask that God will forgive you of your sins and make you His child.  If you are faithful in these, God is faithful to receive you back into His fellowship.  Anyone who comes to Him, he promises not to send away.  1 John 1:9 encourages us, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just.  He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What a great return policy!  Are you ready to come back?

Pastor Mark