Bonus Card

I am thankful for my Food Lion Bonus Card! I also carry a CVS card, Walgreens card, BILO card...and numerous others. The beauty of these cards is they give me access to the store discounts, because I am a member....I'm special. Rather than buying 3 for $10...I get 4 for $10 on 12 packs of soda.....or I can get 10 cans of Spaghettios for $10! So many specials, all specially priced for members. Because I am special, I don't have to pay full price...let me say that again....because I am special...I don't have to pay full price. What a concept...it kinda' reminds me of something...does it remind you of anything? This morning Crosspointe Church, Drew Tankersley preached about how we are to be motivated by love....just like Christ was. This love made Him have compassion....this love made Him heal....this love motivated Him to give the ultimate sacrifice....His life....for mine. For me, the one with no parents, the little foster kid no one wanted...He had compassion and gave me parents to love me. For me, the one with cancer...4 times....He healed me. For me, the one with all this dirt and filth in my life, the one who has sinned in the past and will sin in the future, He died for me. Do you know the price of being an orphan? Try having no one love you. Do you know the price of having cancer? Try physical misery, pain and possibly even death. Do you know the price of sin? Try....death. SO why didn't I have to pay those prices? Why does my receipt show me getting more items than I paid for?? I'm a member...and in the words of American Express...membership has it's privileges. I was 5....in foster care, when I went to church for the first time. There was a lady named Lois Akers teaching us in Children's Church. That's where I heard for the first time, that there was a man who loved everybody. Fat kids, skinny kids, ugly kids....bad kids...that struck a chord with me, I mean, after all....only a bad kid would have parents that didn't want her. Ms. Akers told us how much this man named Jesus loved us...how special we were to Him. I knew nothing about the cross, creation, the resurrection....and really at that moment it didn't matter....I just knew I needed Him....I wanted, no I needed, someone to love me. That's when I got my membership...and I've never been unloved or alone since then. Sooooo...the next time you swipe your Food Lion or some other kind of card...remember, just how special being a member actually is.