Cash in Your Coupon!

The woman laid open a multi-page binder in the upper section of her grocery cart, the area in which a small child often rides. I thought at first she was an auditor inspecting the shelves of merchandise. As she approached however, I noticed that her binder was not some sort of checklist. No, instead the pages were packed full of coupons. A closer look at her binder revealed that she had literally hundreds of coupons, all sorted into categories, subcategories, and a dates of expiration. She had a virtual filing cabinet of coupons available at her fingertips.

My wife likes to use coupons to her advantage when shopping. It’s a good idea for products that you buy on a regular basis. She keeps a little billfold like pouch in her purse and when she’s in the store, goes through them, checking to see if there’s any that will save money on that day’s shopping. She thought herself pretty organized in that endeavor until we ran into the previously mentioned shopper. We both acknowledged the woman’s coupon superiority.

Now coupons are only good if you redeem them for the item they represent. For instance, if I give you a coupon for a free Big Mac at McDonald’s, even though it might have a picture of the Big Mac on the coupon, eating the coupon itself won’t satisfy your hunger. No, you have to take it to McDonald’s and redeem it. There, they will take your coupon and give you back something substantially more appetizing, at least in my humble opinion.

As Christians, we have received and redeemed the greatest coupon, if you will, of all. By declaring Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are "cashing in" on God’s offer of redemption. But like that coupon from McDonald’s, one has to actually use it. You can read about salvation, listen to a great evangelist’s message, even believe it all, but if you don’t say "Yes, Lord," it’s all for naught. "Yes Lord," I accept Jesus’ death on the Cross as payment for my sin. "Yes, Lord," I want Christ as Lord of my life...Yes Lord. People try and make Christianity many things, but one thing it’s not is complicated.

Romans 10:13 says plainly and clearly, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Everyone. The coupons are limitless. Have you redeemed yours?