Ya Better Believe It
a devotional by Rhonda Rhea

Infomercials work. At least they do on my family. My kids are the worst at getting sucked into the deal of the day. They love to come running to me with their sales pitches: “Mom, we have to get the Kitchen Magic Missile! It does the work of 37 kitchen and miscellaneous household tools.” I’m glad none of you can see my kitchen at this moment. It looks a little like someone already fired a kitchen missile. Direct hit. So my first question to the kids is usually something like, “Well will it clean my kitchen?” The second one is, “Will it at least make me look ten years younger?”

I have to admit, imagining 37 handy, dandy tools at work in the post-missile cleanup is tempting. It gets even better when I get to the TV just in time to discover that this Kitchen Missile slices, dices, juliennes, fold the laundry, and gets pretty good reception on most FM frequencies. “And that’s not all.” The Kitchen Magic Missile makes ice cream, balances your checkbook, and with is special attachment, gives your canine a professional grooming—all while it weeds your garden.

But Wait—There’s More!

Did I hear you can order the Kitchen Magic Missile and, for just the cost of shipping and handling, get the amazing Mushi knives, too? The knives are probably the most enticing. They can cut through the fender of a Buick and still slice a tomato to a thickness of less than a tenth of a centimeter. Then the amazing Mushi knives can garnish your paper-thin tomato slices with lovely radish roses. The kids love it that these knives can chop and stack a cord of wood, recycle your plastics, end world hunger, and rid us all of the dangerous effects of gingivitis.

But wait—if you call now, you can get the Kitchen Magic Missile, the amazing Mushi Mega-knife set, and you’ll also get the Scalp Massager and Golf Ball Washer 2000 absolutely free.

Who puts these deals together? The scary part is that my kids have the 800 number memorized. That’s just one of the many, many reasons kids don’t have credit cards. “Operators are standing by” would tend to cause my blood pressure to rise another ten or twenty points if I thought my kids might be armed with loaded plastic. Kids and plastic would be equal to nitro and glycerin. Now, there’s a combo that has the potential for being even more destructive than an armed kitchen missile.

Funny, when I give the kids little hints that some of the products on infomercials might not be everything they’re cracked up to be, they respond, “But Mom, they have to be. It says so, right there on TV.”

Call 1-800-TRUST-THE-WORD

There is a source you can count on for all the truth, all the time. It’s not on the shopping channel, and you don’t even have to pay shipping and handling. It’s God’s Word—and is it trustworthy? Ya better believe it!

It might not be the best at slicing and dicing, but on the other hand, we’re told in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Ever heard of one of those kitchen tools claim to be living and active? No comparison. Not only is God’s Word living and active and sharper than any double-edged Mushi knife, but it shows us black and white, right and wrong—right down to the marrow and smack dab to the very attitude of the heart.

The Word on the Word

The Bible has proven itself to be trustworthy throughout history. Psalm 119:160 (MSG) says, “Your words all add up to the sum total: Truth. Your righteous decisions are eternal.” There are many fulfilled prophesies, things that were predicted that have happened exactly as they were prophesied, right down to the letter. Dozens and dozens of details were given about the birth of Jesus, for instance. All were fulfilled. What are the odds?Astronomical—no matter how you slice or dice it!

Every word of the Bible was given to us as evidence that God is real, that he loves us, and that he has special things in mind for us. The Bible is the life instruction book for every person who believes. There are well over 3,000 instances in the Old Testament alone where the Bible claims to be the Word of God. It’s inspired by God and is a wondrous letter of love and hope to anyone who will take a look. The channel is always on, 24/7, every day, every season, every time you open it up and dive into its truth. Psalm 119:89-92 (MSG) says, “What you say goes, God, and stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your truth never goes out of fashion; it’s as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your Word and truth are dependable as ever.”

Read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it, apply it to your life. Can it change your life? Ya better believe it! And you can bank on the life-changing power of God’s Word and its reliability from here to eternity—infinitely more than you can trust the Kitchen Magic Missile—operators or no operators.

From Turkey Soup for the Soul—Tastes Just Like Chicken by Rhonda Rhea (Life Journey, an imprint of Cook Communications Ministries, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918) 2004, pp. 51-54.