Sin's Blue Light Special

When I was a kid, my mom used to take me to Kmart a lot.  Kmart was the Walmart before Walmart, and I think there are still a few floating around these days.  Anyway, they used to have this bit where someone would shout over the intercom: “Attention Kmart shoppers there’s a blue light special in aisle 10,” and then a blue police light would start flashing in that location.  

Everyone in the store would drop whatever they were doing and rush over to see what the blue light had to offer. The deals were never that great, but the blue light lured in millions and suckered them into buying all kinds of junk they didn’t need.   Actually they reminded me a lot of those blue bug zappers people hang in their backyards. 

You would think the bugs would learn after watching their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends “go into the light.”  You’d think they would say, “Nope it’s not for me, thanks anyway”.  But there’s something about that sweet sky-blue glow that whispers to them, “Come, come see what I have for you.”

What the bugs find isn’t some cheap kitchen utensil they don’t need; it’s death.

There’s another blue light special out there trying to lure us in, and it’s called sin.  It’s offering us cheap thrills, momentary satisfaction, false dreams, and the delusion of happiness.  On our own, we're like the bugs, powerless to say "no."  And when we step into the irresistible, iridescent glow of its beautiful blue light, ZAP!

"For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power." (1 Cor 15:56)

But hope is not lost. There is a light infinitely greater than the blue light special.  There is a light that makes the sun seem dim in comparison.  There is a light far more attractive in every way.  His name is Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

When Christ walked into the midst of sin’s blue light special, guiltless without debt, He tasted the sting of death and spit it back out again.   He rose up, fulfilled the law, unplugged the cursed blue light, and threw out all the junk you never needed anyway and replaced it with the only necessity there is, Himself.

That’s why all those who call on His name can say, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? . . . Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:55, 57).

Attention Kmart shoppers, will you let Jesus unplug sin’s blue light special in your life?  Choose Christ, and live.