"Let's Make A Deal!"

So, this weekend, Clint's work is having their annual insurance meeting. Sounds boring, huh? But- they always try to make theirs fun with a game show theme and gift card and prize giveaways! This year's theme is "Let's Make A Deal!" I am still working on the sign, this is what I have so far..... Looking pretty good if you ask me! (I didn't even use stencils!)

If you have seen the game before you know that you need to take your BIG PURSE if you are in the audience (and men ...you will need your BIG MURSE- Man Purse!) I would be great at this game. When I looked in my purse this morning I realized just how many things I have in there.....chapstick, coupons, lipstick, hairbrush, calendar, pictures of the kids, gum, pens, pencils, stickers, ritz crackers, needles, alcohol swabs, a can of chocolate soda, hair tyes, buddy bucks, a mario figure and a toy car! I would ROCK at this game!

Also got me to thinking about the game I sometimes play...even though I know I shouldn't. The "Let's Make A Deal" with God game- I sometimes play when I am saying a prayer. Come on...you know that you have done it before.....it goes something like....Please God, just this once...if you __________I will ___________." You know the game- you can fill in the blanks with anything you like. "Please God if you just let me get this job, I will never call in sick" Or "Please God if you just let me pass this class I will never skip a class again!" Or "Please God just let my Grandma get better and I will start going to church again!" I know I am not the only one who sometimes follows a prayer with these "Let's Make A Deal" requests. I, however, may be the only one bold enough to admit it!

I however...also know that God does not make deals. God’s house is not a marketplace but a house of prayer. God can’t be bought. We do not love God in order to get something out of God. And God does not love us in order to get something from us.

Salvation is not a transaction. No love worth having is a transaction. God does not make deals. God’s house is not a house of trade. It’s a house of prayer. When you pray you don’t always get what you want. When you pray you sometimes get the short end of the stick, you can even wind up upside down. God does not make deals. God redeems, God invites us to pray. When we pray the only thing that matters is love. And love can’t be bought. Love is the one gift without conditions.

In this life, from time to time, love may seem like a deal, but in that world to come where we see God face to face—all deals are off. And we will love God for who God is and not for what he does for us. Prayer invites us here and not to that perfect love. Prayer gives us the opportunity to love God for who God is and not for what God may or will do for us. God does not make deals. God redeems through love. Amen.