Dollar Store Treasures

Well, the Easter Season is upon us. That means trips to the malls and stores of America are decorated to the hilt with colored eggs and bunnies. Kids will take part in Easter Egg hunts, gathering as many eggs and candy as possible. Hey, my kids did today!

Last night, my wife ran into the local Dollar Tree to get the stuff for our kid's Easter Baskets. She got the usual, like candy. But also things like little cheap toys and coloring books. To us, these are just cheap little time occupiers. Just a buck! But to them, they are treasures. Who thought a dollar store coloring book could provide such joy?

I kind of got a taste of that happiness myself this evening. After I cooked up some homemade beef stew, I realized we needed some bowls. So, off to the Dollar General I went. Once inside, I found the aisle with the cheap plastic bowls, and found something a bit more "treasure-able". I found a four pack of nice glasses, made of real glass, not plastic. They were only $3 (Dollar General isn't a true dollar store). But hey, for a decent glass, that's a steal. Who'd think I'd find happiness at a cheap store?

When I read the Gospels, and the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus, I read of a life that to those around him, seemed insignificant. Jesus was born to a poor family. He didn't have much in the way of earthly goods. He learned to work with his hands as a carpenter. In fact, Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus left the glory of heaven, to take on a human body. He became a bond servant. He humbled himself.

Jesus didn't come as a king in royal robes. Perhaps that is why the religious folks of the day had such a hard time believing that Jesus was the Messiah. He came in a package that the elite wouldn't recognize. Jesus didn't come as a spiritual "Saks Fifth Avenue", he came as a dollar store. I like what Isaiah says: "he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2) No one would have looked at him and thought, "Hey, there goes the Messiah!" Yet, inside his plain-looking package is the most glorious treasure we can have. And he laid down his life on Calvary to take our sin on himself and became our substitute. He took our punishment, and gave us his life.

Don't get me wrong. Jesus is the Almighty God who rules the Heaven and the Earth. Just read the book of Revelation. He doesn't appear as a lowly peasant, he is the Reigning King, resurrected from the grave. It was his sacrifice on the cross, and his glorious raising from the dead 3 days later, that gives us the eternal life we can have. It was that humbling sacrifice of the peasant from Galilee that made me alive when I was dead in my sins.

Jesus came to give us life. Won't you trust him this Easter as your Savior?

God bless!