Our Footsteps: 7-Eleven

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

7-Eleven

This morning's Bible reading was in Psalm 7. Every time I read Psalm 7:11, I think of my encounter some years ago at a local convenience store, 7-Eleven. It says 'God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day'.

I ran into the store to buy a drink and as I received my change and a napkin, I noticed a rack full of pornography behind the counter. Interestingly, on that particular morning, I had read Psalm 7:11, and it occurred to me that God DID have indignation toward the people responsible for distributing this poison and contributing to the blight on society. There was a printed note on my napkin that stated if I was in any way unsatisfied with my visit to 7-Eleven to call the number listed. So... I did.

I politely told the person on the other end of phone that I was done shopping at 7-Eleven until I knew that they were done selling pornography. That person showed me that they had their own form of indignation and they became immediately agitated at me for being so bold as to call them on the carpet. Their response concluded with, 'we are a company that provides goods to ALL people, not just a few'. And then the call abruptly ended.

I wonder who the 'ALL' of that statement included, because it certainly didn't include me anymore, and probably countless other Christians would not shop there if they knew they peddled this kind of sewage. I wonder what would happen if I tried to sell some Bibles out of their store? Or how about even GIVE them away in their store or in the parking lot? Wonder how much 'indignation' that would generate?

The wonderful flip side of Psalm 7:11 is Psalm 11:7 - "For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face". After considering the gravity of Psalm 7:11, I am really thankful for Psalm 11:7... Those who walk uprightly will what??! Behold His face??! If we didn't have enough incentive to live right because of God's indignation, certainly 'beholding His face' would be enough.

Praise the God of indignation.
Praise the God of righteousness.

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I Believe...

1). I believe that there is one God. I believe God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2). I believe that God is holy, righteous, loving, and just.
3). I believe that mankind is separated from God by sin; that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin.
4). I believe that, because of sin, man is condemned. Because of God’s utter hatred for sin, there is an eternal conscious punishment in hell for all those who do not come to God on His terms, dealing with their sin.
5). I believe that confessing our sins and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is the only way to properly deal with the sin that has infected everyone. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on the cross; reconciliation by substitution. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of Christ.
6). I believe in the security of the believer, that once he is truly born-again, there is nothing that would cause him to lose his salvation.
7). I believe that upon the death of a true believer in Christ, that he is ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord, where he will live in everlasting joy in Heaven, experiencing eternal fellowship with God.
8). I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion. I don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but it is a beautiful outward profession of an inward possession.
9). I believe in a literal 6-day creation where God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day.
10). I believe that the words written in the Bible are truth. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its parts and in its whole. I believe that the 66 books that make up the canon of scripture make the Bible complete and that God inspired the words written therein. The things that were written down in the Bible are sufficient for every need we have. Not only is God’s Word sufficient, but it is far superior to any other method of handling the problems that man faces, since He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.