Spending Big

Spending Big

I’m typically careful with money; I don’t spend big without first considering both the need and my budget. But recently I spent more than I would have liked for the promise of an added return on investment. My splurge? Twelve months of a heartworm/flea preventive medication that my dog, Burley, takes monthly.

Why twelve months? Because the manufacturer offered a twenty-dollar rebate if I bought a twelve-month supply at once.

Since I had the money and knew I’d be buying it anyway, I thought I might as well go all in and save twenty dollars. But the website where I was supposed to apply for my rebate wasn’t working properly, and I couldn’t submit the completed form. If it were working, the fine print said I’d have to wait ten to twelve weeks for my twenty dollars. And, by applying for a rebate, I was also signing up for unwanted marketing e-mails from the drug company. Add those negatives up, and it was most definitely not worth the big onetime expense.

The more I thought about it, the madder I got. I wouldn’t have spent so much money if I’d known how difficult redeeming my rebate would be and how long I’d have to keep paying with those marketing e-mails filling my inbox. I stayed mad for two days. Then I looked at Burley, he looked back at me, and I got over it. Because I love him, and I am committed to care for him no matter what.

Jesus spent big for love. He didn’t die weighing his 100 percent investment in a world of sinners. (We weren’t good bets.) He died—in complete agreement with the Father’s plan—for love alone. He spent big out of love for the sons and daughters of Adam who had no other means of life but him.

Nothing spent for love alone is lost, ever.

God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Romans 5:8, MSG