Happy Saturday! Do your best to stay warm out there.
I was at the store the other day to pick up one item. As I made my way to the checkout area, I decided to go to the lane marked, “Speedy Checkout – 20 items or less.” As I walked up, the guy in front of me gave me one of those looks. So, I punched him in the face. No, not actually. That was for dramatic effect and to get your attention. It wasn’t that kind of look anyway. I picked up on his non-verbal cue and glanced ahead at the couple that was at the register. Apparently, the whole idea of 20 items or less was lost on them. I had one item. The guy in front of me had three items. Clearly, we had passed remedial math and deserved our rightful place in that particular line. The couple, on the other hand, most have thought it was 20 items per person. There they were, shopping cart filled with copious treasures plucked from nearly every aisle in the 150,000 square foot store. Of course, they were doing their best to not make eye contact with the legalists behind them that were all for a strict adherence to the law. Then, just when we thought they were done loading a cart that would have made Madame Blueberry envious on her trip to Stuff Mart, the lady announces she has a separate transaction. It was now the divide and conquer maneuver. She instructed the clerk, whose arms were likely weary from all of the scanning he had just done for them, to go and get her 3 packs of cigarettes. Of course, instead of having a card ready for payment, that thought must have never occurred to her. Instead, taken by surprise at the request for financial consideration, she fumbled around until finally producing the plastic short term lending obligation. Finally, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine. There was light at the end of the tunnel. My new found friend and I got to move forward in our quest to purchase our paltry few items that were clearly well below the maximum threshold allowable. Once I made it to the number one spot, I asked the clerk what was the most items that he ever scanned in that line. When he looked at me and answered, “yes,” I realized there was a communication barrier that I wasn’t equipped to breach at that time. I simply paid for my singular item and headed for the exit, where I showed my receipt to the person near the door to verify I had indeed purchased that one item.
Doesn’t it seem like human nature to push the limits? Some people will do so in the checkout line, but others in a wide variety of ways. Virtually everywhere you drive there will be signs posted with the maximum speed limit. 95% of the people are driving faster than that. 4% are driving right at the speed limit, while 1% seem to be driving about half that speed. (BTW, these percentages are for illustrative purposes only. There is no real scientific data to back them up. In reality, it’s just a wild guess. Yep, I made them up. They are about as accurate as any poll that you will see on the news). If you go to Costco or Sam’s Club when they are handing out samples, you will see humanity at its finest. Even though there typically aren’t signs to show the limit, the point is that they are samples. They are not an all you can eat buffet. They are not trying to provide you and entire meal. And yet, people will push the limits and take as many as they can get away with. The same is true if you put out some kind of treat and place a sign that says, “Please take one” or “Limit one.” Some will abide by that while others will seize the opportunity to take what they want. During the summer, our apartment complex had to send out numerous reminders to the residents. Over and over, they kept communicating that you were only allowed to bring in two guests with you to the pool. However, there were days when the pool area was packed with people. As they began checking, a lot of them didn’t live there. Sadly, they had to implement a system at peak times where someone wandered around with a clipboard taking names and apartment numbers to verify residency. The frightening thing is that none of us are totally immune to this type of behavior. We can read about some of these things and say that we would never do that. However, there are probably other areas where we just might push the limit. Sharing streaming account numbers, sneaking people into a drive in (ask Ron to explain that one), taking a little more than you need such as 27 packets of Chik-fil-A sauce, parking where you aren’t supposed to (but only for a little while), cutting through a parking lot instead of waiting at a light, etc.
So, where did this type of behavior begin? Clear back in the garden. Satan set this in motion when he asked that fateful question, “Did God really say…” Since that time, not only have we had a propensity to question God, we often reject any authority that we don’t think pertains to us. In little ways and, sometimes not so little, we reveal that our heart is rebellious. We want to do what we want to do. We don’t always like to submit to others or follow the rules. We like to push the limits as far as we can.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Praise God that through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can have a new heart. We can mature in our faith, growing in our understanding of His Word. As we do, we should become less rebellious and lose our desire to always push the limits.
Something to think about.
Larry
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