Too Tight Shoes and Thrift Store Blues

I am an unashamed Thrift Store shopper. I like finding vintage tees, broken in jeans, and smooth looking shoes that have a lot of sole.

Sole…..Soul…..Get it?

So, I paid a visit to the Thrift the other day and looked through the racks of shirts and jeans without finding much of anything that appealed to my suave sense of style. I had decided to leave when suddenly, from the left, something caught my eye. It was a pair of sporty leather shoes.

I stopped and looked at these eye catching kicks and picked them up for further inspection.

Price: $3.50

General Condition: Excellent.

Shoe Strings: Present and clean.

Smell: Not detectible at arms length.

Size: Ten.   Size Ten?    Hmmmm……

Size Ten is not really my size but come on, these shoes are only $3.50. How can I pass up this delightful deal? These things look almost new. Whoever had owned them previously must have taken great care of them. They probably had their own shelf in the shoe closet and everything.

So I bought them. I’m wearing them right now, as a matter of fact. They are a bit tight but I think they are stretching out. I could’ve paid more for some fitted shoes but they would’ve cost much more and I didn’t really want to pay that much……

Yes.  It’s true.

So, how many times do we settle for something smaller than God’s plan for our life because we think it costs us less? Sure, it doesn’t feel quite right and we know He wants to take us to a new level but we think it will cost us too much.  I mean,

It may cost me my friends or my hobbies…….

It might cost my time or my personal goals and ambitions…….

We decide that God just wants too much for us to follow Him like that. Besides, maybe we can just get used to the feeling of complacency and procrastination. It’s not like we’re being disobedient to God, we’re just not ready for that level of commitment. I’m sure He understands, right?

No. Not so much.

In the bible, Jeremiah said that God’s Word was “like a fire shut up” in his heart and bones. When he tried to contain it, it became uncomfortable. We are able to prevent God from doing His will in our lives but we will always feel the pain and discomfort of our disobedience. God has big things that He wants to do in our lives and He doesn’t want us to settle for less. Don’t try to keep God small in your life. Let Him be God. He is a big God who wants to do big things.

And remember whatever we think it costs to serve God is far, far less than what it costs if we decide not to. Don’t limit Him to a Thrift Store budget!

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But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9 NIV)