Free Returns
If December is the month of reading fine-print returns policies, January is the month of cashing in on the 30-60 day return windows.
Last week one of our adult kids asked if I still had the in-store receipt for their Christmas gift because after further inspection, they realized it wasn’t the best fit. Knowing we can return a loved-one’s gift for a more accurate size, better color, or altogether different product is key to our gift-buying. There’s an unexplainable freedom that propels us to click the extended, free-returns purchase. Conversely, angst and hesitation often accompany the purchase of personalized products or clearance items with an unreasonably short return window or no-returns allowed altogether.
Like the item we didn’t try on soon enough or the package we meant to ship last week, but got buried under the grandkids’ stash of books and snacks in the van, it’s easy to think that this far into adulthood our return-to-God window is closed.
With tags removed, we’ve gone too far for too long, we’re too tattered and battered, and even “poor condition” or “slightly used” would be an exaggeration. Well past that, our pile of regrets grew taller with each passing year.
No matter if the life-long lies we bought and the dupes we chased after left us sorely unsatisfied, we’re convinced that too much time has passed to turn back now. We regrettably didn’t notice the flaws of our unable-to-withstand-wear-and-tear, phony “gods.” Worse yet, maybe we did sense the defects, but we intentionally avoided what would have been valuable inspection—and introspection.
Resigning ourselves to the lie that first lured us, we subconsciously carry the “we made our bed, now we have to lie in it” mantra deep in our joints. With chin up, we force ourselves to live with buyer’s remorse, endure the shame, and simply hope our kids and grandkids won’t fall for the same tantalizing scams.
But, thankfully, our counter-culture God wages war on our flesh and enemy- tainted beliefs with the much-needed message that it’s never too late to return to Him—whether it’s been 60 days, 60 months, or 60 years of testing out the world’s fake goods.
Isaiah 55:6-7 beckons us, “‘Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’” (ESV).
This, my friends, is the Good News of Christmas extended into the New Year; He will “abundantly pardon.” Not only can we shed our regrets, our sinful patterns, our neglects, our former ways of thinking and sometimes acting—not only that, but, the incomprehensible part is that He’ll “have compassion” on us—not an “I suppose you can have your money back,” or “we’ll reluctantly redeem this for you after a good dose of shaming”—but, compassion!!
Whether we’re convinced that our sinful habits, attitude, pride, or tendencies render us “un-returnable,” may we remember that the Point of No Return is the world’s way.
God’s policy is the same one He put in place at the beginning of time. “Return to Me.”
Hosea 3:5 encourages, “Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the last days” (CSB).
No matter the decade, no matter how far gone, may this be the year of “The Return of the Parent” or “The Return of the Grandparent.” In these “last days,” may we exchange empty pleasures for lasting security and return “with awe,” trusting His goodness.
Kay Fuller (a.k.a. Grammy Kay)