for the sake of saving

i was away last weekend with a friend who wanted the new ipad2 on the day of it's american release. because we live in canada, and because of the additional craving for the boston-based uburger :-) this meant making our way to beantown. the weekend also consisted of galleria umberto for perfect sicilian cheese pizza & arancini, mike's pastry for perfect cannoli & lobstertails, & lots of dunkin' donuts coffee, just to name a few in the way of palate pleasing stops. we also did some shopping before & after the successful ipad2 wait in line & purchase, since we were in the area from thursday to sunday. we pounded the halls of many malls, as well as those of faneuil & quincy market.


our first stop on friday morning was at the christmas tree shop in peabody, ma, close to our hotel & on our way in to the city. there were some boxed granola bars on sale for the ridiculously low price of .59 cents, whose sign boasted "great savings!" i grabbed a couple after verifying that they weren't an expired or damaged product.


after the long weekend away came and went, one morning i took one of the granola bars with me for breakfast to go with my coffee. i so enjoyed it that i thought to myself, "i should get some more of these." then i remembered i didn't get them here in fredericton, but some several hrs & 500ish kms away...which even for the most deal conscious person would be a bit out of the question :-) for a split second, i thought "do i want them that badly? so badly i would spend time and gas to get .59 cent granola bars?" dumb? the discussion taking place in my head at that moment triggered another memory--the day i spent money on a product i never use, but i had a coupon and felt it just shouldn't go to waste. i haven't used the product...maybe never will. in effect, i didn't actually save .50 cents. i spent $2.50 for a product i will likely never use. the irony is that i was spending money to save money. dumb?


these 2 instances brought me to this query: how far will i go to save? how much will i spend/invest to save? going all the way to boston for cheap granola bars is kinda dumb. and so is using coupons on items that i wouldn't normally purchase just to get the deal. but you know what's not dumb? going out of my way to let someone know that Someone loves them. jude 22 & 23 gives an idea how far i might have to go: "and of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." for some, i won't have to go too far to save, or invest too much to save because they just need to be shown God's mercy. maybe he's already a 'good' person; he just needs to know that God has so much more for him. think of cornelius in acts 10...he was devout & just, feared God, gave generously, and prayed always, but his full salvation meant that peter had to take cornelius a little further on his salvation path. cornelius was an easy save, if you will. peter didn't have to go very far or risk very much. on the other hand, i might need to go right to the edge for others who need shown the same mercy. think of saul who became paul. check out acts 7-9 particularly. ananias knew the evils saul had done and/or allowed to be done to christians in jerusalem, and still he went...knowing his life was potentially in jeopardy at the hands of saul. ananias went far to save, risking his very life. he went right to the edge to reach saul. he didn't know what to expect or what was waiting for him, but he went...for the sake of saving... 


the way i see it, there's no distance too far, and no price too great when it comes to saving...at least when it comes to people, marriages, families, futures :-) salvation is for you, your children, and all that are afar off (acts 2:39). catch that? afar off. that implies distance. and there's no distance too great. and again in ephesians 2...but "you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ." nope, there's no distance too great...even Jesus agrees :-)


now, how do you see it? share with me, people :-)