牧者心聲  Pastor's Message

01/10/2010

Shopping Carts


        Leaving Costco today I noticed how many shopping carts littered the landscaped islands of bushes and soil that separate the cars. Yes, there were some in the cart stalls as well, but the place was still a gigantic mess. No, I'm not out to hunt down everyone in the church who does this, so don't worry.

        But this caused me to remember how very tidy the grocery store parking lots were in Europe. Although poorly parked cars can be found all over the world, the large (and even rain protected) stalls for the shopping carts were filled to the brim with *neatly* parked and stacked shopping carts. And this is because each one was connected to the next by way of a chain from handle to handle. What happens is, if you want to use a cart you must place a Euro into the device on the handle, then the key from the cart in front is released and you can be on your merry way. When your shopping is finished, you’re going to want to get back your euro (since $1.50~1€) before you leave, which means you need to properly park the cart into another to insert the key of the other cart and release your Euro.

        I wonder, if people are this busy that they cannot even park a shopping cart into a stall, how busy then are their spiritual lives? Maybe they are in a rush to get back to praying, so they didn’t have time to neatly park their carts? What about you? Do you have time to set aside and pray? I am trying to wake up earlier to pray. This is an important spiritual matter that even Jesus did not take lightly, as he went out very early to pray. Maybe you’ll have to give up something, but take the time to pray and speak to the Father this week and listen to what He says. I’m sure He’ll be happy!

Mark 1:35 B35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.


      Brother Benjamin Chung