By David A. Sargent
An elderly man, who is also a veteran,
was at the grocery store register purchasing his groceries
when he realized he didn’t have enough money to cover all of
the items. The veteran has used up a $25 grocery store
gift card but still owed $3 more to obtain the rest of the
things that he needed.
His cashier, Briar Poirier, from Oxford,
Massachusetts, said, “I’ve got this,” and he pulled out his
own wallet to get the money to pay the difference.
“The gentleman had a couple basic necessities and looked
like he was a little down on his luck and the man fought for
our country, fought for our freedoms,” Poirier told
WBZ. “It’s the least I could do for him.”
Renee Falcioni, from Killingly,
Connecticut, witnessed Poirier’s act of compassion.
She said she saw the veteran’s eyes “light up” at Poirer’s
deed. “He shook his hand and said thank you and had a
big smile from ear to ear,” Falcioni told WBZ.
Falcioni also posted about Poirier’s
kindness on Facebook. Her post received thousands of
likes and hundreds of comments and shares. Falcioni
commented: “Thank you Briar for being such an amazing young
man and a big thank you to your parents for raising such an
amazing, kind-hearted, conscientious, and caring young
man!!!”
May I turn your attention to another act
of compassion that has a few similarities to Poirier’s act
of kindness? There are some differences in the actions
as well:
- The debt is far greater. In fact, it is too great for any of us to pay with our own resources.
- Each of us owes this unpayable debt.
- The matter of the debt has eternal implications.
- Only one Person could pay this debt. He willingly did so for each of us.
- He paid this debt for us, not because we were good or kind or merited the repayment in some way.
The debt that each of us has and cannot repay is the debt of
sin (Romans 3:23). None of us has the resources to pay
the debt ourselves, for sin is an offense to a Holy God
(Isaiah 59:1-2). But God loves each of us so much that
He gave His Son Jesus to pay the debt of our sin so that we
can be reconciled to Him (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians
5:17-21). Jesus paid the debt for us with His life; He
died on the cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Jesus did this for us when we were weak and unable to pay
the debt, sinners offending the Holy God, and even enemies
in rebellion against Him (Romans 5:6-10). The
wonderful news is that if we accept His offer of salvation,
He will give us eternal life. If we reject His offer,
we will receive eternal destruction (Matthew 7:13-14; Romans
6:23).
God will save and give eternal life
to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts
16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts
17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and
are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of
sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin
those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John
1:7-9).
Jesus’ death, burial, and
resurrection make all of the “difference” in our lives now
and forever. Won’t YOU accept His offer of salvation
and eternal life?
- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at
Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an
electronic devotional entitled "Living Water." To learn more about this
excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org
* Information gleaned from “Store employee pays veteran's
grocery bill: 'The least I could do'” by Ann W. Schmidt of
Fox News, www.foxnews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment