“The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens.” (Psalm 113:4 NKJV)
Before I confess, let me point out that on a recent, televised interview, featuring a well-known celebrity, this famous person responded to the question, “Do you ever shop at thrift shops?’ with the response, “Of course!” Now my confession, “I do to!” I am how one of my friends classified me by declaring to others, “Mr. King is a shopper too!” Or I can take the words of my beloved brother and apply them to my thrift shop rendezvous, “There is no shame in my game.”
While my visits have been limited these days, last week I stopped at a thrift stop and went through my normal routine of rotating through the store. I stopped at shirts section first, moved to the jacket section, walked to the furniture section, looked at the pictures and wall hangings, being careful not to buy back something I had donated recently, and of course, I looked at the books in the inspirational section. When I looked through the shirt section, I saw a tee shirt that was new; still had the tags on it and it was my size. It was white with bold black print. I pulled it from the rack for a closer examination. There was something wrong with the shirt. There was no flaw in the seams and each sleeve was the same length. There were no holes. There were no tears or stains. But there was something that I did not think was appropriate on the merchandise; the wording. The saying on the shirt proclaimed, “Everyone gets high at some time or the other.” I immediately put the shirt back on the rack, and actually, I put it in the wrong section to perhaps keep someone else from buying it and promoting “getting high.”
What other motive did I have for hiding the shirt? It is because I think that the only getting high everyone should do, not sporadically, and not at some time or the other, but as a developed as a habit or an approved addiction, is looking high above, looking beyond the hills, looking to the throne of God from where our help comes from. Our help comes from the Lord.
When you do that, your living will be habitually righteous. When you do that, your feeling of joy will become an addiction, something that no one can take away! When you get high by reaching to the Lord in prayer, you will experience a recovery and feel a sense of renewed calmness when it comes to your fears or anxiety; a real sense of serenity produced by your knowing that such as life throws at you, it does not matter, because the Lord will cause everything to be alright. In fact, it will work out for good.
If you are a “shopper,” and you come across that shirt, do not purchase it, not even to wear under an outer garment.
Now you ask why? Well recognize that many problems that our communities face are related to getting high as the shirt’s message conveys. However, many problems can be non-existent, and decreased greatly in volume if people would practice the getting high that I think people should developed; described above. If you agree, share this with others today, especially our young people! Be blessed!
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King