Low Cost , Big Benefits

TITLE: Low Cost; Big Benefits
DATE: November 21, 2018
TEXT: Matthew 5:16 -  ESV - In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

John and Stella Chhan left Cambodia and came to America in 1979.

In ten years they had saved enough to buy their own business: Donut City on California’s Pacific Coast Highway.

An industrious couple, they have manned the place, which is open seven days a week, for over a quarter-century. Steadily they have built up a support base of many regular customers. That is, in part because Donut City’s prices aren’t out of line. They still charge 90-cents for a cake donut and $1.05 for glazed. Prices are comparable for muffins and cinnamon rolls. 
​
In short, Donut City, along with John and Stella have become a fixture, a small part of the community which everyone expects to be there forever.

That’s what people expect… but it’s not necessarily what happens.

You see, lately Stella hasn’t been at her normal spot behind the counter. When customers asked about his wife’s absence, John explained she had felt dizzy when they attended a wedding last September.  An emergency run to the hospital revealed a bulging aneurysm. Almost simultaneously Stella became uncommunicative.

Stella stayed that way for two weeks. When she finally came around and the haze started to clear she was facing a long period of rehabilitation and relearning. Quite rightly, John was determined to be there as much as possible to help her along.

Now for you to understand what happened next I have to give you some information…

Donut City has always made a certain quota of their various products. The store stayed open until they ran out of things to sell. That was usually mid-to-late afternoon. Which caused a problem for John. Like we said, he wanted to be there for Stella. If the shelves weren’t empty, he didn’t get to go to see his bride until later.

That was the way it was until regular customer, Dawn Caviola found out what was going on.

Moved by her friends and their need, Dawn went on line and shared the story of John and Stella. Then she encouraged patrons to go to Donut City early and when they did; buy in quantity. In other words, Dawn wanted John and Stella’s customers to empty Donut City’s shelves as early as possible.

The idea caught on. Which explains how, the other day, John was headed up to see Stella by 10 AM.

2,000 years ago, when Jesus came to earth, a lot of prophetic pre-planning took place. Jesus’ time among us was marked by severe sacrifice, uncompromising commitment and total dedication to saving us. His suffering and death was filled with unrelenting pain. Still, Jesus endured it all so we might be forgiven and saved. 

Now, we who have been saved are asked to glorify our gracious God by following Jesus and letting our light shine before others. Of course, there is one very large difference between what we do for others and what Jesus did for us. Look closely and you will find most of our good deeds, like that of Dawn’s, are easy to do, make us feel good, and benefits those who give and those who receive.

Which is an encouragement to do all the good you can, as often as you can to as many as you can.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we have been saved by Your Son our Lord. His sacrifice is beyond calculation and we shall always be in Your debt. Grant that we may show our gratitude in trying to reflect the love we have received in the good things we do to others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by on November 4, 2018 by John Johnson for Newser Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: http://www.newser.com/story/266803/doughnuts-keep-selling-out-quickly-not-why-youd-expect.html
 
The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann, one of my long-ago  confirmands. It is singing with three brothers. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html