Wasted Effort

Here in the Seattle area, some 2,500 shoppers were in line when a Target store opened at 5:00 this morning. According to news reports, similar scenes occurred across the country.

Supposedly looking for “bargains”, as many of them indicated, these folks were willing to spend most of an overnight standing (or sleeping) in line just to make a purchase – likely something they really don’t need but just want.

From one perspective, what a waste of time and effort.

Give a thought to this: What if all of these people had invested the same amount of effort (money notwithstanding) in gathering just things we/they don’t even use regularly and making the items available to those less fortunate world-wide?

That would be effort worth expending.

We live in (and unfortunately, as Christians, buy into) a culture gone amuck. We’ve mistaken abundance of things for spiritual blessings. In contrast, Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is required.” I need to do things differently this holiday season.