As I pulled into the Zehrs parking lot, I began to think of how deserving I was to be there.
Food was at my fingertips. I just had to choose the food that I wanted and I could use my card to get it. Shopping carts were there for my convienience. I wouldn’t be caught dead shuffling to carry everything in my arms. Workers were there for my benefit. A man even gave me a cart so i wouldn’t have to waste my enegery pulling it out. Plastic bags are the best invention known to man. I could use it, throw it away and forget about it.
Yep, this was my store.
That was until a guy in line with a high horse attitude caught my attention. He was your typical waterlooian. Suit jacket, dress shirt, casual designer jeans. As the cashier asked how he was, he looked away and didn’t seem to care.
She gave him the bill and without a word, he tapped his card with more money that I could ever afford.
She said “have a nice day” and he turned and walked without acknowledgement.
“what a jerk” I thought as I paid for MY food, put it in MY bags and headed to MY car.
I then headed out to the parkinglot and began to cross at the crosswalk. It was then when the same man in a BMW honked, pointed and glared furiously at me. I was in HIS way.
Little did he know, it was MY crosswalk.
I then got angry, gave him the classic “Wong” stare where if he crossed me again, I’d put him in the ground.
Yep, this is my store and he got in my way.
On the way home, Jesus gave me a play by play of what just happened. The man driving the BMW was in the wrong, but the man walking the crosswalk was in the wrong, too; and all of us here feel so entitled to the cattle on a thousand hills that aren’t even ours.
Truth is, we don’t really own anything. We don’t deserve what we have. And what we do have is simply a gift from above. When we live as if life itself is a gift, we tend to treat people better. We’re thankful for what we have and don’t ask for things we don’t need.
And when we live as if we’re royalty; we get mad because we don’t have, murder those who get in our way and expect everything to be ours. We envy others. We treat them as if they are less than us and frankly, we forget who we really are.
If you’re not a christian today and you’re reading this… congradulations.. you’re off the hook today. Go ahead and point at people like me who give you another reason not to have faith.
But if you are, remember this… you belong to God.
Quit acting like you are entitled to anything. Quit acting like you’re better than anyone else. Quit thinking that you deserve anything in this life.
And if you’re a Chrsitian living in waterloo, I’ll pray for your salvation and a radical lifestyle change…
It’s a joke buddy, get over it!
Because the only thing you are entitled to is the cross that you picked up the moment you decided to follow after Christ.
Live in light of Christ and not your pride.
PJ
