WHY WAIT SO LONG-----I worked for this department store in SF for many years. We had a return policy that went like this: If you are not satisfied with what you purchased return the item for a full replacement or for full store credit. Now that may not sound like an unusual return policy, I’m sure you could name many stores with a policy that sounds very similar, but our policy was very different, see there was no time limit imposed. Anything a customer purchased could be brought back at any time, even without a receipt. We would even take back merchandise purchased from a competitor. Anything at anytime.
If you purchased a pair of jeans and you didn’t like them, you could bring them back. If you had a pair of shoes that didn’t wear well, just bring them back. This applied to everything and anything, without exception.
I know what you are thinking, wouldn’t people easily take advantage of a return policy like that? Absolutely. We had a lady who would bring back a pair of jeans every three months and get a free replacement, she did this for years. I remember one time we had a guy who had purchased a stereo sound system and had the stereo system for seven years, then one day he brought back the stereo sound system for a full store credit - no questions asked.
Sure people could take advantage of the return policy, and some did, but the truth is, it didn’t matter, for in the long run, more people who were hesitant to make a purchase, would in the end make a purchase, because they knew they could return the item at any time.
Usually, when people brought in an item for a return, they were prepared for a fight. Some would give a long emotional story and others would take great pains to show the merchandise was perfect and good as new. We would patiently listen to their sad stories and take back their merchandise, but it didn’t matter what they said, we still would take back anything, at anytime, no questions asked - we even had a lady who brought back a very expensive rug and told us that her New Years Party was great - “Thank you madam, would you like store credit or would you like to choose another carpet?”
Some people were pleasantly surprised when they were informed that we would take their item back without explanation, others wouldn’t believe us, and insisted on giving us a detailed explanation of why they had to bring back their coffee maker. I’m sure there were many others who we never heard from, because they thought they didn’t have a good enough excuse to bring back the item they hated. So they kept the sweater that didn’t fit, or threw out the pair of shoes that fell apart, or kept on using the blender they despised. Yet, they could have brought the item back and found exactly what they wanted, even if it was years and years later.
I used to wonder, “Why did people wait so long?”
People are like that when they approach Jesus Christ too. People think they have to do something, or be somebody, or achieve something before coming to Jesus Christ - they cannot fathom that they don’t need an excuse, they don’t an explanation to approach Jesus, they don’t need to be good, honest, and truthful, AND they cannot fathom that Jesus will bestow the gift of new life upon them without cost. So, these people live a life they do not like, they remain people they do not want to be, they live with this burning emptiness inside and it is heart breaking, for Jesus has been waiting for them all their life, Jesus wants them no matter who they are.
No matter who you are, no matter what you have done, or did not do, no matter how good you have been, or how poorly you have acted, Jesus Christ will take you, take those sins that weigh you down, He will release you from your painful past, he will set aside all that you’ve done and bestow upon you, grace, and mercy and new life - He will fill you up.
Don’t keep living on empty, go ahead fill your life up; Don’t hang on to that old life, go ahead, turn it in for a new one.