Bumper Stickers

I’m not a magnet connoisseur. I’m the one that likes the front of my refrigerator void of coupons, reminders, and invitations. I feel the same way about bumper stickers. Apparently, I like things neat and uncluttered! (You would call me a liar if you ever saw the desk in our office at home, or my refrigerator, or the inside of my car!) I do, however, enjoy reading other people’s bumper stickers… and last week as I was driving, I came across two such stickers that I had to share.The first one made me laugh: Stupidity has Consequences. Enough said. All of us can relate to a time when this proved itself true in our own lives. How putting this on the back of a vehicle will protect someone else from going down the Stupid Trail, I’m not sure. Seldom do we realize we are in Stupidville before it’s too late. I’m pretty sure if this bumper sticker had any preventative effectiveness at all, the inventory would be devoured by parents of teenagers who are eagerly awaiting for the frontal lobes of their precious children to finish growing!The next sticker got this Christian thinking: God Does Not Hate You.If you live below the Mason-Dixon line, you’ve heard or sung Jesus Loves You a bazillion times. Even the most theologically liberal church will remind you how much God loves you. But why does stating the opposite grab our attention?I began to think that, as much as we want to tell people how much the Lord loves them, the enemy has done a much better job convincing people that they are bad, unworthy, and despised by the very God that created them.Can you imagine someone whispering constantly to your child, “Your mother hates you”? Heartbreaking doesn’t even do justice to the intense emotions that would pulse through you if this statement was uttered even once to your precious son or daughter. We would pull out the claws and the fangs if anyone were to ever try to speak such a painful lie to our own flesh and blood. Yet this is the lie whispered over and over to people struggling with shame and guilt.Maybe today you need to be reminded of the truth:"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)God does not hate you, my friend. Oh, quite the contrary."For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'" (Isaiah 41:13) twitter | facebook