Blue Light Specials

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/787445

Friday nights, when I was growing up, were designated “Family Night”.  I looked forward to them all week long, never quite knowing what we were going to do.  We had a limited income and back then, there was no such thing as movie rentals or dvd players or vcr’s, for that matter.  My parents never let that hinder them from coming up with some very clever family night outings. 

One of my favorite family nights was going to Kmart.  Dad would give us each a dollar to spend and we could buy whatever we wanted.  I remember walking up and down the aisles debating endlessly about how I was going to spend that one dollar.  I usually ended up with a half gallon carton of malted milk balls.  It wasn’t quite a dollar so whatever was leftover I would pool with my sister and we would buy a pack of gum to share. 

Kmart was famous back when I was growing up for their “Blue Light Specials” (unadvertised specials that were announced in the store).   While walking around the store shopping, someone on the loud speaker would say, “Welcome Kmart shoppers we have a blue light special in aisle 4.  We have just marked down tennis racquets from $20.99 to $15.99.  This will only be for the next half hour so hurry and stop on by to get yours.”  Then we would all rush over to aisle 4 even if we didn’t need tennis racquets just to see for ourselves whether it was true or not and just maybe we might be able to get one.

“Blue Light Specials” were designed to get people’s attention and they did just that.  They drew people to them, even when they weren’t really interested in the product.

 Matthew 5:14-15 (NLV) says,  “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.”

As I read these verses,  I was reminded of Kmart’s long ago, Blue Light Specials.

As followers of Jesus, we are to be Jesus’ “Blue Light Special” to the world.  We should stand out, we should be different!  The light within us should radiate to those around us, to those we come in contact. 

When we love unreservedly, forgive quickly, give without expecting anything in return, extend grace when it isn’t deserved this marks us as different.  It’s as if we’re standing in aisle 4 proclaiming, “We’ve got a deal of a lifetime and you’re not going to want to miss!  This deal transformed my life and it can change yours too!”

So let me ask you, is your light shining? Or have you covered it up and kept it to yourself?  Do you live like you have the deal of a lifetime?

We have a “deal” that surpasses all deals, a deal of a lifetime.  Let’s not keep it to ourselves!