Cheap Imitations

I'm re-reading one of my favorite books right now (A Love Worth Giving by Max Lucado) and I came across one of the most influential chapters. It's called "Inflamed" and it deals with the verse "Love does not envy"~ I Corinthians 13:4.

This chapter goes through and describes what life would be like if our lives were full of jealousy and resentment. What if we were bitter because we were single? What if we were jealous because of what other people had that we didn't? What if we continually harped on the things in our life that we wished were different instead of looking at the things we were blessed to know and have?

Max sums up quite a bit when he states, " God withholds what we desire in order to give us what we need. You desire a spouse; He gives you himself. You seek a larger church; He prefers a stronger church. You want to be healed so you can serve. He wants you confined so you can pray."

Sometimes we miss it. God actually gives us everything we need and most of what we want, but we are too consumed with not getting everything in our exact time that we lose sight of the gifts.

Have you ever just sat down and thought about all the things you have prayed for over the years. Think back, you could even go back to your high school days. What was it that you consistently prayed for? Now think about where you are today and what you have accomplished and what you have received. Did He answer those prayers? The better question is did He give you what you asked for or did He give you something far better than you could have imagined?

Some of you are thinking back really hard right now and maybe you cant think of one thing but I'm almost positive that God has blessed your life with something so great and something that was absolutely worth waiting for.

God offers authentic love. His devotion is the real deal. But He won't give you the genuine until you surrender the imitations.

Let go of the fake pearls. Put down the cheap imitations and let God bless you with the most geniune pearls you've ever seen. I promise it'll be worth it.