Sunday Devotion: The Sign

Janet Rubin

“Kiss-your-asters-good-bye sale!”

So reads the sign standing by the road in front of a little store called Green Survival here in CT. An old, family-owned business, Green Survival provides a nice contrast to the plant sections at Wal-Mart or Home Depot. The place has character—cats prowling around the plants outside, roosters crowing behind the building and an ancient parrot beside the register who says hello to customers. The perfect place to get your pet food, fresh eggs, pumpkins in fall, and Christmas trees in winter.

But the best thing about Green Survival is the sign. Even when I don’t need to stop and buy anything, I love driving by and reading the latest message. Like most signs, the point is to give information about a sale or product in the hopes of attracting customers. But whoever makes up the signs at Green Survival is clever. They manage to give the information in a creative way, eliciting giggles from me every time I pass. (i.e. “Thank you very Mulch for your business.” Or “Tweet the bird-lover in your life to a new birdhouse for Christmas.”)

More than once, after reading the sign (and nearly swerving into oncoming traffic in the process), I've decided to pull in and take a look around. But then, that’s the whole point. Anyone can report the facts. Using creativity to present the facts in a way that draws people in is a different matter.

Jesus knew how to do it. His message was simple- "Repent," "Follow Me." He was all about truth. In fact, He was The Truth. But He took the time to present His message creatively, packaging it in stories that touched the emotions, engaged the intellect, and even amused. He used allegory, metaphors, and similes. Jesus could have just laid out the plan of salvation once and let people take it or leave it, but He chose to go further, telling the story again and again, in different ways so people could “get it.”

God still uses people and stories to communicate His truth. Though the plots of the stories we write differ, the truth contained within them remains the same. I am amazed to think that God could use my writing to touch people’s hearts and perhaps help them better understand some bit of truth. Like how much God loves them, how endless His supply of grace and forgiveness is, or that He loves to give people second chances (and third and fourth…). He can use you too. What will your sign say?

Mark 4:2 Then He taught them many things by parables.

Lord, Thank You for the simple truth of the gospel. And thank You for loving us enough to put that wondrous truth into stories that still touch people today. Thank You for making me a story-teller. Please help me to represent the truth well in my stories, and then use them to touch hearts. Amen