that has nothing to do with it...

Gas prices are high. That is one of the most obvious statements that can be made today. I mean it is true, and it has been true for the last half-decade... but what is not so obvious is how certain companies are using high gas prices to actually sell stuff... Now, I can understand how high gases prices can be used to sell hybrid vehicles, bicycles, walking or running shoes, but not so much with other things.

Two examples that have really bothered me are the use of high gases prices to sell pools, and to sell LCD/plasma TVs... yes that's right pools and plasma televisions. I should explain that these are radio ads that I hear while listening to sports talk radio on my way into school or work... so basically the spots go something like this... (insert your own radio announcer voice here)...

"Are you tired of high gas prices? Can't get to the beach? Well, bring the water to you with a new (company name) designed pool..."

"Hey, we all know gas prices are expensive, so instead of packing up the kids and driving to the big game save that money and buy a new flat panel TV from (company name)..."

Now, maybe it's just me but that's just ridiculous... I mean, do people seriously spend so much money on driving to the beach that they would actually save money by purchasing a $8,000 pool. Or do people spend so much on gas driving to football games that a plasma screen TV would be a savings. I might be wrong but, those seem like luxury items to me and really don't relate at all to the point of high gas prices.

When it comes to faith we often times can get caught up doing things in the name of Christ that really aren't related to Him at all. For example, every Sunday people all of the country get dressed-up in coats and ties (me included) and Sunday dresses to go to church. Now, why? Well, I think most people would tell you that they do it to bring God their best, but I think that more than a few people get dressed up to try and impress other people.

For me personally, I find the major struggle being that I try to do so much for God, that I don't do anything with God, and that can be especially dangerous. Isaiah 64:6-7 tells us just how dangerous it can be...

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have given us over to our sins.

It says, that our righteous acts become like filthy rags unless we first strive after the Lord. As believers, we can get so mixed up doing so much in our churches or in charities that we believe that is our faith, but our faith consists not so much in what we do, but in who we are in Christ.

I think, that is why God sometimes disrupts our lives with problems and pains and disappointments so that we understand that a true relationship with our Lord is one that rests in Him, one that is quiet in Him, and one in which our actions are governed by a life of faithfully guided by His power.