Good morning! Do you remember your first job? I do and I actually really enjoyed it! I started out as a ‘blocker’ at a grocery store (the same store that my Dad worked overnight at for FOREVER). You may be asking yourself, what in the world is a ‘blocker’? Well, for those of you who don’t know, I was paid to pull the product forward on the shelves to make the shelves look full. It was a very satisfying job because when you were finished, it made the aisle look so nice – all the labels were forward and everything looked full.
It was annoying though when someone would come along and grab an item off the shelf and mess up my beautiful work – its like when you are washing dishes and someone keeps putting dishes in the sink, you feel like your work will NEVER be done LOL!
Eventually, I worked my way into the Dairy Department. I LOVED working in the Dairy aisle as weird as that may sound. The Dairy Manager and the Frozen Foods Manager were friends, and me and my friend from high school were like their go to sidekicks. When they needed to take time off, we would fill in for them to take care of the ordering, scheduling, and anything else that needed to be done.
My friend and I would end up working a lot of the same hours and would be responsible for the aisles at night. Anytime there was a new ice cream treat or new flavor – chipwiches, frozen snickers bars, drumstick cones, etc – we had to try it.
There was a process for scanning damaged items where the company would receive credit for them. So instead of buying the item and trying it on a break or at home, we would go back into the cooler or the freezer and look for a damaged item to try it. In the event there were no damaged items, we would open the item and mark it as damaged!
At first I felt like it wasn’t the right thing to do (because it really wasn’t), but it seemed to get easier every time we did it. Before you know it, we found ourselves ‘shopping’ in the aisle every time we worked for anything that was new!
There are so many similarities between my first job and what can happen in our lives if we are not careful! We put on this facade (like blocking the aisles) where everything appears to be perfect, but on the inside (in the cooler/freezer) we are broken and disobedient to God’s Word.
“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”
Proverbs 11:3
There are times that we can hide things from others, but it is silly to think that we can hide anything from God, the one who really matters. When we put on this outward display that everything is OK, but on the inside we are broken, it doesn’t benefit anyone! We only fool ourselves instead of dealing with the real issues, and we lose the support of the people around us because they think that everything is fine.
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
Ephesians 4:25
It is OK for people to see us for who we really are! No one is perfect and everyone experiences times of struggle or difficulty. When we are real with one another, it gives us an opportunity to support each other in prayer and practicality. I’m not saying that we need to tell the WHOLE world about all of our deep dark secrets, but as we establish a close circle of friends, we will be able to be honest with one another to help each other through the hard times.
A good friend will not judge us for what we have done or a decision we have made, but will lovingly come beside us to help us through and continually encourage us to keep our eyes on Jesus!
The most important person to be honest with is ourselves. When we mess up, own it. Then we can find a close friend to keep us accountable for making better choices and living a life that honors God.
Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us unconditionally even though we have done nothing to deserve it! We all have failed to live according to Your standards at one time or another, but Your steadfastness continues to draw us to be authentic before You. Help us to be real with ourselves to allow You the opportunity to work in our lives to make us more like You! Help us to establish a close friend to walk through life with honestly that will always encourage us to live for You! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 