Tips on selling a used car

Used Cars and Troubled Souls

It’s an aggravating and frustrating thing to try to sell a used car yourself. The problem, of course, is that those who might consider buying your car always look at it with a far more critical eye than you do. Things that you've long ignored simply will not please a prospective buyer. That spot on the upholstery where the kids spilled a milk shake suddenly shows up like a black eye. And that slight roar that comes from the rusted out muffler now sounds like a semi truck. The worn tires, the squeaky brakes, and the dull paint - everything looks and sounds worse when you know that someone else is viewing it with a critical eye.  Finally you lower your price, and end up selling your car for a lot less than you had hoped to receive.

We wonder how many folks may suffer a similar disappointment in the final judgment. So many things that have long been ignored will then be exposed to the Lord's scrutinizing view. Maybe you've known for a long time that you should do something about that bad habit, the vile language, the uncontrolled temper, the immoral deeds - but you just kept putting it off. Perhaps you were the one who had all those good intentions about worshipping more regularly, or studying your Bible more diligently. Or was it you who had been planning for years to speak to your neighbor about the Lord?

In the final judgment it will be the Lord who is looking - at us!  Will we end up receiving far less than we had hoped for?

- by Greg Gwin

 

I feel like a hypocrite every time I go to church

Repairs Needed

Jim Corley met his friend, Alex, at the dealership where Alex worked.

"Jim, I feel like a hypocrite every time I go to church because I fail to
live for Christ so often."

"Alex, what do you call this part of the dealership?" Jim asked, nodding to
the area outside his cubicle.

"You mean the showroom?"

"Yes. And what's behind the showroom, past the parts counter?"

"The service department," Alex said confidently.

"What if I told you I didn't want to bring my car to the service department
because it was running rough," Jim asked.

"That would be crazy! That's the whole point of service departments - to fix
cars that aren't running right."

"You're absolutely right," Jim replied. "Now, let's get back to our initial
conversation. Instead of thinking of church as a showroom where image is
everything, start thinking of it as God's service department. Helping people
get back in running order with God is what the church is all about." *

We are all in need of repairs, "for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

But God loves us and wants to "fix us" - from the inside out. The finished
product will resemble His glorious Son. "But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2
Corinthians 3:18).

In order to cleanse us and make us whole, God sent His one and only Son
Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

God will cleanse, make whole, 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).

When we rise from the waters of baptism in the new birth, God adds us to the
church, His family (Acts 2:41). In God's family, we find encouragement,
correction, forgiveness, and other components of a needed support system to
keep us "running" well.

"Bring Christ your broken life
So marred by sin.
He will create anew
Make whole again."
-- Thomas O. Chisholm

Remember, the church is not a showroom; it's God's service department. Come
to Christ and into His church so that He can make you whole.

-- David A. Sargent

* Source: Choice Contemporary Stories and Illustrations For Preachers,
Teachers, and Writers, Craig Brian Larson as quoted by www.ministry127.com.