Action

 I don’t like mail-in rebates. I never have. By the time I get around to it, or remember I need to mail in the slip of paper with proof of purchase to get my $3.99 back, it’s disappeared into that mysterious place where unmatched socks and winter gloves end up. I think that’s why they make you jump through the hoops because they know half the people will never bother. Why not just give me the discount at checkout? The same goes for the credit card companies that insist you have to activate that particular quarter’s extra special cash-back offer.

The technology is there; you know it is; just make it happen!

On the other hand, it’s not their fault I did not avail myself of their offer. It’s not their fault I’m scatterbrained and lose receipts like the CDC loses credibility. I may call it hoops, but they call it steps.

My little brother seems to do perfectly fine with mailing in his rebates; he’s also great at remembering where he put the gift cards he bought for Outback a year ago.

Maybe it’s me. If I’d been a bit more organized, I too could have enjoyed a free vanilla custard at Culver’s. They were handing out coupons when they first opened. I took one. It disappeared along with the others—no free custard for me.

Countless believers are wondering why the promises of God have not manifested in their lives, even though they read of them in the Bible. It’s not as though you can miss them. There are a lot of promises in the Book.

It’s been said by those who keep count that there are 30,000 promises peppered throughout the Word of God, about one for every verse. I know, that’s a lot. The New Testament alone has eight hundred promises that God makes directly to His beloved, those who are called by His name.

The Bible begins with a promise and ends with a promise. It begins with the promise of salvation and ends with the promise of reward. In between those two promises, there are countless others that we would do well to heed, believe, and stand on because only then will they become a reality in our lives.

Believers today do not see the promises of God in their lives because they do not avail themselves of them. They do not put in the minimum effort required to access them, then grow bitter because those around them are while they are not. I can’t fault my little brother for getting his rebate check in the mail. The onus is on me for not having done what was required of me to likewise get my rebate check.

Even though there is no shortage of promises in the Book, many believers fail to see His promises come to pass in their own lives. The question we must contend with today is why? We know that God is not a man that He should lie. This was established in the book of Numbers, and it is a declarative statement He made that He has not withdrawn or altered.

The choice is binary. One must be at fault, and the option is between God and man. It’s not circumstance, environment, or situation that have dammed up the promises of God in most people’s lives; it’s the lack of follow through on their part and doing what the Word insists we must do to avail ourselves of them.

Every year I buy a season pass to the local zoo for the whole family. I keep promising myself we will go more often and spend more time looking at the monkeys and the penguins, but somehow, we only manage to eke out two or three visits per season. It covers the cost of the season pass, but we could have gone so many more times if only we’d purposed to do so.

The passes are in my wallet, they will not turn me away if I show up at the gate, but I have to make an effort to get there. I have to put myself in a position where I can use my pass, and if I don’t, I can’t blame the zoo.

2 Corinthians 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

It is well known that the Corinthians weren’t the picture of purity. A lot was going on in the Corinthian church that was contrary to the dictates of God, and in his second letter, Paul impresses upon them that if only they’d perfect holiness in the fear of God if only they’d cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, there are mountains of promises waiting for them.

Paul even includes himself in the mix and says, let us cleanse ourselves, let us perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord because we have all these wonderful promises that are just sitting there gathering dust, promises we are not availing ourselves of because we are not willing to do what is required to access them.

Even though it should be enough, there are more reasons to pursue holiness and perfect it in the fear of God than just because He said so.

What we are witnessing in real-time is scores of people being told of all the promises God has made, yet never being told what they need to do to access those promises.

I have the recipe for the best carrot cake you’ve ever tasted. And? That’s it! I have it. How would that help anyone with a sweet tooth?

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.