LTO’s
Dan Kunz
As many of you know, our family owns a number of successful convenience stores. One of the reasons they’re successful is our food offerings. In the food and restaurant business, it’s common to have something called “Limited Time Offerings”. For example, a restaurant may offer more choices of soups during the winter months, when a hot bowl of soup might be appealing. During the summer months, the same restaurant may have fruit bowls or more salads. One particular brewery produces “Summer Shandy”, which is only available until about September. The idea behind LTO’s is that they are popular for a time and may dwindle in popularity. A business may also increase the demand for something by making it unavailable for a while. As we celebrate Christmas this coming week, Jesus might be seen as an LTO in a couple different ways.
A negative perspective of Jesus as a limited time offer involves people who view him as just that. We’ll get our “fill” of Jesus during the month of December and then not think much about him until the same time next year. At best, they may also think about him at Easter. We sometimes refer to them as Christmas and Easter Christians. They like the celebrations and traditions associated with those seasons, but, perhaps, miss the true significance of those two celebrations. They like the family time, the good meals, and maybe even the warm feelings of the church services, but don’t have time for Jesus for most of the year. They figure the LTO will come around again soon enough. Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while he may be found.
A positive perspective of Jesus as a limited time offer involves people who realize that Jesus is available now. That means you need to take advantage of the offer while time allows. The devotions often connected with these blogs come from our friends at Time of Grace Ministry. The ministry is aptly named. Right this moment is your/our time of grace – the time we have to make Jesus, God’s answer to our salvation, a part of every day, not just a couple times a year. When Jesus returns that time ends. When you draw your final breath that time ends. Fortunately, at the current time, residents of America can worship God and draw close to him as they wish. If you lived in a different country or a different time in history, that may not be the case. A sense of urgency is good thing when it comes to taking advantage of the limited time offer of Jesus! James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
As you celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world in the days to come, make sure the relationship with him lasts the whole year, as a matter of fact, lasts a lifetime. Occasionally, LTO’s are so popular they become permanent offerings. This should be our goal. A relationship with Jesus which becomes permanent, means the celebration in heaven will last for eternity. Wow! That’s the best offer of all.