I felt guilty from the start. I had a bad feeling. Yet I wanted them. I really wanted them.
I had seen them before. Pleasing to the eye. A bit worldly.
Aah, what was I fooling myself? They were glitzy. Or, maybe I was fooling myself.
I went to my local Payless shoe store to buy needed shoes
for my youngest child. But a pair of purple glittery sandals caught my eye. I
didn’t need them but they wouldn’t leave my mind. Times were tight and I should
be watching my spending. They were very tempting. I thought I might go back and
try them on. I felt bad about this. Really bad, like I was making a wrong
choice.
My desire overruled the warning feeling I felt. Later that
day, I drove back to the shoe store although I still felt bad. I couldn’t
resist those glitzy purple sandals. I made my choice and drove home with the
purple sandals and another pair of shoes since it was BOGO (buy one get one
half off).
http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=1147312
I tried on the sandals at home. They looked beautiful on my
feet but they seemed tighter than in the store. I began to think the purple
sandals were too tight even for fashion’s sake. Alas, I decided to return them
to the store. My bad feeling was right. I felt guilty for my tempted choice. These
shoes weren’t right for me and had cost money and time. The shoe bag with the
two boxes seemed heavy as I carried it into the store. I waited for the clerk
to process my refund and take my pride and vanity off my hands. I walked out of
the store lighter without the shoe boxes and richer with the refund money and
the lessons learned.
I wondered if repentance was a little like that. We see
something, lust after it, feel tempted by it. We feel we shouldn’t act on it,
yet succumb and feel guilty. To cleanse our conscience, we rid ourselves of
what makes us guilty and weighs us down. We exchange our heavy burden of sin to
the Savior and in exchange we feel cleansed and lighter which is worth more
than the money received for a refund.
I was thankful to learn a lesson that day with shoes rather
than something more serious. God is merciful. I had bought a beautiful pair of
turquoise sandals a few days ago, anyway.
