It Will Change Your Life!

One of my favorite sayings is “It will change your life.” I am reminded of one of my friends, TVB, who used to say this all the time. This thought went along with things in life you couldn’t miss. I was always looking for new food, new music, or new ideas that I felt would change my life.

We have grown more skeptical as an economy because of the claims people make that do not come true. More than ever businesses have to prove that they can deliver what they say they will. And we expect to have lasting products that can do amazing things.

One of my favorite commercials right now is the one with a sales lady trying to sell a car with the extended, extended warranty. She is explaining to potential buyers that her car brand doesn’t need all the extra features that a competitor offered, because her brand had great warranties. Commercial after commercial shows how a particular company has a product that is guaranteed, whether the discussion is about mortgage rates, financial stability in retirement, or a cell phone plan that will not have any dropped calls. Can you believe that one phone company is really trying to attempt to promise that one hundred percent of their calls will not be dropped?

I remember the first time I got a popular new–type sketching toy.  In the TV commercials, I saw all the cool kids drawing various pictures and making them move. It was like an animated flip book. I opened it up one Christmas and was pumped until I started playing with it. I found that this did not make my artistic skills any better, and I wanted a refund that was guaranteed.

I love Costco and find myself learning how to buy things there. At first you can be so overwhelmed and start buying all these things that you think you will use, and discover later that there is no way you can use all of this stuff. But after you understand the system, it is great. I once bought a tub of bleu cheese that went bad. I was disappointed at that, thinking it shouldn’t spoil before the expiration date. But the other day I saw this huge tub of Parmesan and decided to buy it. I asked the guy if he thought it would spoil, he told me to bring it back if it does, and the store will give you a refund--guaranteed. I was like, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”  He said, ”Nope.”  “Well, I thought, that rocks!”

We love guarantees that help stabilize our lives. Because we live in a world of sin we have way too much stuff that breaks, and stuff we need to fix. Yet few guarantees in life really hold their weight. Even as great as the Parm from Costco is, it will not make it forever. There is only one guarantee that lasts forever.

I‘ve got to tell you, watching those kids come to soccer camp was such a blessing. One little kid said, “I love soccer camp, it is like a church camp and sports camp combined.”

You see those kids who have dreams of becoming soccer players who will one day play in the Olympics, or at a professional level; unfortunately that guarantee is very low. Yet, the reality is that they develop some great soccer skills and meet some cool high schoolers.  But best of all, they learn of the gift of the guarantee that will last forever. You should have seen the characters that visited them everyday talking about their eternal guarantee. The kids come in with dreams of soccer and leave with our “wonderific” Jesus guarantee.

This week we will talk about this guy named John the Baptist. He got the job of preceding and proclaiming the Savior of the world. One would think a guy like that would be guaranteed a protected life. Not the case.  John the Baptist faced all kinds of challenges. This week we will discuss the guarantees in which we put our trust, and talk about the story of a man who was unusual enough, according to world standards, to do the opposite.