ANOTHER WALMART STORY
No trip to Wal-Mart is without a story! I often feel like the devil goes with me to buy groceries and then puts people and situations in my path just to show me he is alive and well.
On Saturday afternoon I made a quick trip to pick up just one item in the pharmacy area. I expected long lines but hoped my stop would be fairly quick.
I decided to pay in the pharmacy since there was only one person in front of me. With cash in hand, I walked through the roped area to wait.
The man in front of me was getting instructions from the cashier. “Back up,” she said. “No, to the left.” “I need you behind the line and to the left of that area.” Keep in mind that there was no one in front of him. She wanted us in an exact spot within the roped off area, and she wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything less. The man just couldn’t seem to understand where she wanted him to be.
Seeing the confusion on his face and feeling the frustration of having to wait until this woman decided to let the man check out, I moved on to the self-checkout at the front of the store.
I admit that patience is one of those virtues on which I need additional practice; but this required, not only patience, but the willingness to be humiliated by a cashier for no reason and I wasn’t willing to endure it.
This incident reminds me of the Pharisees. In Matthew 15, the scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus with the question, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”
The Pharisees used a tradition, something not specifically commanded by God, to challenge Jesus and the disciples. It was something they held more sacred than the Law itself.
We sometimes do the same thing. We follow traditions instead of what the Bible says is absolute. There are some things that are commands, and those must be obeyed to the letter. There are also things that we do because they are traditions that have been passed down for generations. We sometimes try to bind these on family, friends, and even church members.
The trick is to distinguish between what is tradition and what is law. There is only one thing in the realm of religion that will allow us to make that determination, and that is a study of God’s Word.
Paul wrote to Timothy about the importance of study. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15 KJV). You won’t find out what is commanded unless you study.
What we study is also important. Paul also told Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). Don’t look to man to tell you what God commands. Go to The Book for your instruction. When anyone presents a view, put it to the test. Say, “Give me book, chapter, and verse.”
Prior to this passage, Paul encouraged Timothy. He told him he understood the difficulties Timothy had faced because he had followed in Paul’s footsteps. Then Paul expressed to Timothy that “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:10-15).
The Pharisees wanted to impose tradition, not commandments of God. They wanted to insist on obedience to their values, not the values of God the Father. Consequently, their expectations were impossible to meet.
Everything God asks of us is possible. It may not be easy, but we can meet His expectations if we put Him first in our lives.
The cashier at Wal-Mart was taking a rule and trying to use her authority to insist on the letter of the law. The rule was made for crowd control, but there was no crowd.
God’s laws are made for our good, for making us servants and not lords, and for the saving of our souls. All we need to do is study and obey.
Sandra Oliver