Today I had a Walmart wake up call. I ran into Walmart to grab a handful of essentials. I was in a hurry and made sure to get everything in the cart and to the checkout lane as fast and efficient as possible. Have you ever wondered why Walmart has 16 checkout lanes and a dozen self checkout lanes but yet there are never more than three lanes open? All of the self checkout lanes were closed and they had two lanes open. Yay! Did I mention I was in a hurry? After about 26 minutes of standing in a line that wasn’t moving, I started getting pretty irritated. Just as I was about to audibly express my frustration to the entire store an older gentlemen walked by me and changed my perspective. He was talking to himself and he said, “Praise God, it’s a beautiful day to praise the Lord.” I’m pretty sure he was trying to calm himself down, but he was 100% right. Sometimes I read the Bible and think, how could those idiots fall into sin so easily? Who cares if everyone else turned from God! Come on bible people! Get your act together! Then God sends a reminder for me to get my act together. We are called to live a life for Jesus and point others to Jesus even at Walmart. Even when we’re frustrated. Even when everyone else is throwing a fit. That’s when people need Jesus the most. In Revelation, 14 we see that Satan does not win over the entire earth. There are Christians that have stayed pure and they are rewarded for it. “Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. They have told no lies; they are without blame. And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. “Fear God,” he shouted. “Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.” This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!” )Revelation 14:1, 5-7, 12-13 NLT). Satan will always act like he is bigger than he is. However, in reality he’s like an angry chihuahua. The Devi’s bark is much bigger than his bite. In the end God will prevail. Jesus has asked us to endure our persecution and maintain our faith. If we do this we are blessed indeed. It doesn’t matter if we are at church, the gym, or Walmart. Our Lord and Savior has given us a new life and He wants us to tell the world about it. Go today and tell the world about Jesus!
Questions 1.) What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about Walmart? 2.) Where should Christians consider going to tell people about Jesus? (Popular store, hang spot, etc)
Zack Funk 