day 931: The Cost of Cheap

"But King David replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!”

I loved this sketch and article by Carl Richards in the New York Times.  See: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/the-case-for-spending-a-little-more-sometimes/

Mr. Richards' thesis was that waiting until we can afford to buy good things that will last, or that we will use for a long time, is a better economic decision. The old adage, "We're too poor to buy cheap things" was quoted and it reminded me of the many times in my own life when I have forgotten the power of delayed gratification and I purchase out of impulse because of the catalyst of a sale or seeming bargain only to be disappointed later that I didn't wait or save up for what was the better purchase.  Of course some businesses are built on the principle of cheap, available and disposable, but I'd prefer to think that after time the "Old Navy's" of the world become something else.  We have a store not far from our Rhode Island home called "Benny's".  Our best friend's twin girls over the years (they are 16 now) have come to call the store, "Broken Benny's" because whatever you buy there seems to break or wear out within a few week or months of purchase.  And when you add up the dollars spent, you find that you ended up overspending versus buying quality the first time. As I once told a professional services vendor, "Look, I'm an American consumer, and that means I want it now, I want it perfect, and I want it free...or at least cheap".  What Mr. Richards points out so well is that we can't have our "cheap" cake and eat it too.

King David describes that not all things in life should come free and in fact, we should always pay a fair price for those things that we purchase. We have become so accustomed to wanting everything for free or below what we want to pay.  We are reminded over and over in God's Word that we are to be fair to others and that we all pay a price for the lives that we live.  We have to look no further than the price that was paid for our salvation to understand and model that if we aren't willing to pay our own price to commit, follow and share our belief in Jesus that we are missing out on what He paid for us.  When it comes to our role as believers in the workplace and our striving to bring glory to Him in all that we do, let's never try and take the cheap way out but instead pay forward the price that was paid for us!

Reference: 1 Chronicles 21:24 (New Living Testament)

day 359: A Bargain

As I wrote a few days ago, after hearing a devotional delivered by a pastor, it got me thinking about what it is that we as workers expect from our employers and then how does that relate to how we expect and treat God. The context of this comes from Matthew Chapter 20 where the day workers made a contract with the owner of an estate to pay them their daily wage for the work they were going to do from 6AM until 6PM. The owner ends up paying the same amount to the workers who had made an agreement for what they would be paid for the day, which was the standard daily wage, as he does the person who just came on and worked for him for one hour, which would be an enormous amount of money for one hour's work. The men who had worked all day were upset and didn't understand how someone could get paid the same as them for such a little amount of time, so in their minds they were owed more. But, the message in this parable is that the all-day workers got exactly for what they bargained and agreed it was all of the other workers who didn't haggle and feel the need to bargain, but who were just pleased to be able to work who got so much more. It's an interesting parallel to employees who are on contract, whether it be on a union's collective bargaining agreement or an athlete or celebrity. They get paid for what they bargained and others may get a lot more, and then the employee on contract somehow feels like they got robbed. However, again, they got what they bargained for and it was not only fair but contractual. How often do we find ourselves in a bargaining position and we get exactly what we bargained for and no more? I have to challenge myself on this subject as well as I too many times take to God and others what I know is best for me. Who else can know better than me after all? Today as you contemplate the areas of your life where you know best and you find yourself demanding and bargaining on others and/or God, then I would offer that it is time to sit back and let God do His thing and trust that what looks like a bargain may be, like the worker that got a full day's pay for one of hour of work, a much better deal to be had without the bargain.

Reference: Matthew 20:2 (New Living Testament)