Monday, January 24, 2022

A Better Idea

By Joe Slater

 

    Over half a century ago (1968 to be exact) Ford Motor Company began a new advertising campaign using the slogan “Ford has a better idea.” It featured the image of a glowing light bulb and urged listeners and viewers to “see the light!” No doubt Ford’s engineers had some good ideas. Others, not so much. The snarky side of me has gotten quite a bit of mileage mocking the “better idea” of things I found sub-par in the Ford vehicles I’ve owned. In those cases, I obviously think my own ideas are better than Ford’s! You might or might not agree.

    Neither you nor I will ever have better ideas than God has. King Saul thought he had a better idea of what to do with the king and livestock of Amalek. God told Saul to utterly destroy them. Saul brought back the king and the best of the livestock, supposedly to sacrifice the animals to the Lord. Wouldn’t just destroying them all be a waste? Wouldn’t sacrificing them be a better idea? The prophet Samuel answered: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22).

    God has graciously provided a way for sinners to be saved. When a lost person puts his confident trust in Jesus as the Son of God, repents of sin, and is immersed in water for the remission of sins, God washes that person’s sins away in the blood of Christ. The book of Acts is replete with examples. According to some, however, there is a better way: Pray the “sinner’s prayer” and invite Jesus into your heart! (Don’t bother looking for Scripture that teaches it!)

    Then there’s that thorny subject of baptism. The very word means “immersion,” but people have decided sprinkling and pouring are better ideas.

    You can think of other examples. But far and away the best idea is to trust and obey the Lord!

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com


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