Christians Are God's Catalogs

We know the holiday season is almost upon us when we begin to receive catalogs in the mail. Working as a mail expediter for a local school district, I am discovering that every trip to the post office ends with a bin of slick holiday catalogs. Each one claims to offer its recipients something they supposedly need “immediately.” The headlines on some of the covers read: “Don’t wait!” “Limited offer!” “Order now!”

Somehow the above lure works. We open the pages of catalogs and discover what we didn’t know we needed! Sure enough, we see things that suddenly seem essential, even though a few minutes earlier, we didn’t know they even existed (manufacturers are experts at using colorful catalog illustrations to create a desire for their products).

In a sense, Christians are God’s catalogs because we are His illustration to the world of what blessings He has to offer (Ephesians 1:3; cf. Isaiah 61:10-11). His work in our lives makes us a picture of qualities that people may not know they need or want until they see them at work in us (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7).

Jesus prayed that His followers would be unified so the world would know that God sent Him and loved them as God loved Him (John 17:23). When Christ lives in us, we become examples of God’s love (John 15:7-17; Gal. 2:20).

As we browse catalogs this holiday season, let’s seriously consider what the “catalog” of our life says to folks we come in daily contact with about God. Do people see qualities in us that make them long for God? (Matthew 5:16; cf. Philippians 2:14-15; 1 Peter 2:12).

We pray they do.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets