CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

A SIGN UNTO YOU

12/8/2011

 
Most of us are familiar with those cute little sayings so often seen on Church billboards, such as: "7 days without God makes one weak."  Recently, my mother-in-law sent me a list of witty signs.  I thought I would share a few of them with you today. 

The following are purported to be actual signs seen posted in today’s world…

In a Podiatrist's Office:
"Time wounds all heels."
**************************
On a Plumber's  Truck:
"We repair what your husband fixed."
**************************
At a Tire Store:
"Invite us to your next blowout."
**************************
In a Non-Smoking Area:
"If we see smoke, we will assume that
you are on fire and take appropriate action."
**************************
At an Optometrist's Office:
"If you don't see what you're looking for,
then you've come to the right place."
**************************
On a Taxidermist's window:
"We really know our stuff."
**************************
On a Homeowner’s Fence:
"Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive!"
**************************
At a Car Dealership:
"The best way to get back on your feet
is to miss a car payment."
**************************
Outside a Car Exhaust Store:
"No appointment necessary. We hear you coming."
**************************
In a Veterinarian’s Waiting Room:
"Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"
**************************
In a Restaurant Window:
"Don't stand there and be hungry;
come on in and get fed up."
**************************
In the Front Yard of a Funeral Home:
"Drive carefully. We'll wait."
**************************

Okay.  The last one may have pushed the envelope just a bit.  But you do have to appreciate the humor involved.

Signs, you see, are actually a part of our everyday life.  They are commonplace.  So much so that they tend to go unnoticed.  Thus, advertisers look for creative ways to help a client stand out and get noticed.  Hence the effectiveness of these simple but humorous signs.

I find it interesting that when Jesus came to be born into this world, He did so in the midst of the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  It would have been so easy for this tremendous event to have been overlooked by the people of that busy time. 

Therefore, God sent His angel to a group of shepherds, the most ordinary of people in that day, and had him announce to them that they would see a “sign” that would show them just Who the Savior was. 

Luke 2:10-12 records the angel’s words:  "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

What?! A babe, lying in a manger!  Mangers are troughs, long low open containers from which livestock eat.  Who puts newborn babies in mangers?  The mere thought is incongruous.  The absurdity of the notion makes it almost humorous.  Thus, it immediately grabs our attention and holds it.  It demands that we pause and consider what we have just encountered.

Of course, the answer to the question, “Who puts newborn babies in mangers?” is none other than God Himself.  And He does it for the very reasons I have stated above.  He wants to grab our attention, and to hold it.  He wants us to pause and reflect and consider the significance of what we have just encountered.

And well we should.  Because we will never encounter any greater paradox than this:  that God chose to incarnate Himself.  That He chose to come to the very people He had created and who had in turn sinned against Him, and to become one of them and to dwell among them.  And that He did this in order to show them just Who God is, and just what God wants; and ultimately to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the atonement of their sins against Him.  In short, He had come to forgive them.  To offer them mercy and thus life.

That, my friends, is the single greatest truth ever imparted to this world.  Certainly, that, above all else, is worthy of a sign.  And it is also worthy of your attention, your reflection, your consideration. 

I hope that, like the shepherds of that first Christmas, you will take time to investigate this great matter (Luke 2:15) for yourself.  If you do, I am confident that you too will come away from Christmas “glorifying and praising God” for all the things that you, like they, will have heard and seen.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All