I've got a niece in Pennsylvania who's a very pretty, "shop-till-you-drop" teen, and recently, on learning her Aunt Peggie (ANOTHER shopper) would be arriving for a five-day visit, sent out this memo to Missouri, "We're going SHOPPING!" And shop we did! We hit the mall running--well, SHE's younger than I and runs faster--but I was not far behind! What a time we had--trying on clothes, trying on MORE clothes...eating...trying on clothes, trying on MORE clothes...If you're a woman shopper, you know the ropes--if you're a man married to a woman shopper, you've learned the ropes and climb them every time your wife goes shopping!
As we walked the mall, the brain wheels began to churn--on VACATION, mind you! This brain doesn't give me a break! I said, "_________, (for obvious reasons, my niece's name here is anonymous...grin) know what? YOU are a daughter of Eve!! SHE was tempted by the apple...YOU are tempted by clothes!" We kept walking and my brain kept talking...for my niece is not alone--I'm a daughter of Eve too! We women are all tempted--we like pretty things--we want to look nice, we want to feel nice--and it feels GOOD to get something new, especially when it's on sale!
Back to the lecture. I continued, as she hit the dressing room and then the cashier's counter (OK...I'd already been there/done that earlier!!), "Miss Anonymous, you know what happens to the clothes we buy--they get old, or torn; they wear out; we get tired of them--they don't satisfy!" She grinned and agreed--"You sound just like my mother!"
God knew that too--a LONG time ago, before we ever hit the mall! For there's something more than the BODY in which we reside. He made us with a soul and spirit--and it's how we clothe those INNER parts that counts with Him. He died to save our soul; He lives to refresh our spirit--and no clothes-buying will ever meet those needs! We need HIM--WAY down deep where it REALLY counts...
And by the way, so do YOU, Sons of Adam! Remember, you took a bite of the apple too, so don't snicker at us! See yourself in that dressing room mirror too....and let's ALL remember that walking and talking with HIM in the garden is far more important than ANY apple we could ever want--no matter how appealing and delicious!! Now let's BELIEVE it, stay out of the shops at least for TODAY--and enjoy REAL life with the LORD!!
Delight in a Word from the Well--a refreshing in the Water of His Word