I go to Sam’s Club the other day with the sole intent of buying a winter jacket. I had seen a couple I liked a few months back and the zipper on my winter jacket just broke so I need a new one. I take my two youngest with me and we spend probably 30 minutes looking and trying on. Nothing fit. The one I remembered is gone.
So, dejected, I prepare to leave without buying anything. But then….
I walk down the book aisle and this book jumps out at me called “Atlas of the Bible” by Carl G Rasmussen by Zondervan. It’s a thick book with a picture of some ruins on it and maps below the picture. Now, as you can tell, I LOVE maps so I picked it up and glanced through it. I opened to the pages on Hezekiah’s reign and there are timelines and maps and pictures AND an explanation with biblical quotes of passages, tying together all the parts of the Bible that discusses Hezekiah’s reign.
I hadn’t been interested in a Bible Atlas before even though our BSF leader recommended one because I don’t like just a book with maps in it. I like the explanations and pictures–exactly like this book.
I look at the price and it’s $25 bucks. So, I put it down but only momentarily. I thought, “Well, I was going to spend that on a coat and now I’ll spend that on a book.”
I do this ALL THE TIME. I’ll buy something for me, justifying the expense by giving up something else.
So, I proceed to the check-out, happy as a lark. The winter jacket will wait until next fall and I’ll enjoy a cool book that will help me understand God’s word much better.
Good trade-off, don’t you think?