I visited a local chain grocery store last week and I saw the sign to the left. You see, I live in the garden spot of the world when it comes to produce. South Georgia farmers grow some of the best produce you can find anywhere in the world, but it is difficult to find true South Georgia produce in South Georgia grocery stores. For some reason, the buyers for the chains strike deals with inferior providers and our farmers have no other option but to ship their produce to other parts of the country. So, I was excited to see that at least I could get produce grown from some hard working, deserving Georgia farmer.Before buying some, however, I thought I would do a little research. The picture featured watermelons (my favorite), tomatoes, beans, and bell peppers. Commercial farmers within ten miles of my house grow all of those items. I looked at the watermelon labels first. A farmer in Raleigh, NC provided the watermelons. The green beans and bell peppers had no label indicating their place of origin, but they looked "well-travelled." We have a farmer in Mexico to thank for the tomatoes and blackberries, and one in California provided our strawberries. So much for the "Georgia Grown" produce advertised on the sign.
As I thought about that later in the day, I realized that we as believers sometimes do not deliver what we advertise either.
We say that Jesus can change your life,
yet we live very similar lives to those around us who do not profess faith in Jesus.
We say that we want prayer in our schools,
yet we fail to pray in our own personal prayer closets or in our homes with our family.
We bemoan the moral decline of our culture,
yet we watch the same filth on TV, visit the same sites on the internet, listen to the same
ungodly messages in music.
We complain about dishonest and self-serving politicians,
yet we bend and break the rules and conveniently rationalize our behavior.
We say that more people ought to go to church,
but we are only there – especially during the summer – when something more "exciting"
does not lure us away.
We object to the violence, language, and sensuality found in our entertainment industry,
yet "life imitates art" in our own language, dress, and behavior.
Church, let's make sure that we are not guilty of false advertising. Let's demonstrate a genuine and growing relationship with Jesus that permeates every facet of our lives.
Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you… - 2 Corinthians 6:17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? … So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. – James 2:14, 17



