Proverbs 31: 14. How Far Will You Go for a Great Deal

Proverbs 31: 14     She is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar.

Proverbs 31: 14.  As a rule, women are more skilled shoppers than men.   

(Yes, as a rule.  I’ve read the studies.)

A wife may go to the other side of town to get a better price.  A mother may spend extra time clipping coupons and checking sales notices.   She knows what her family can afford, and she knows what her family needs; and she goes however far she must to make the two match.

But sometimes, a sister goes too far.

Sometimes a woman does what she has to do, and what she has to do takes her over the personal, moral, or legal edge. 

God sympathizes. 

People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. (Proverbs 6:30)

But sympathy doesn’t change wrong into right, or cancel the consequences. 

Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. (Proverbs 6: 30)

And so many sister find themselves needing redemption and deliverance from their past.  They need redemption for themselves and for their families.

Use those shopping skills, girl.

Go all the way to the other side of Heaven.  Pass demagogues; pass idol gods;  pass angels;  and go straight to the Manufacturer for the best deal in the universe:  the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ^for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3: 22-24)

Free.

Is confession too far to go for a great deal on free redemption?

Is submission to Jesus too far to go for a great deal on free deliverance from guilt?

Is the cross too far to go for free personal peace and the relief of knowing that you’ve invested in Divine favor for your family?

That’s God’s offer.

Come on. Do the math.  You know a good deal when you see one.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

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To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

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