Screwed!

* screwed (skroōd) adjective: cheated or swindled. 

Recently I had an experience and although it looked as if I were getting a great deal, it ended up costing more in money, time and peace, then I bargained for. Afterward, as I thought through the process of this experience I saw how it realtes to our lives.

Have you ever needed an item, product or service that you knew was expensive, but you just can't bring yourself to spend the money on it? So you spend time & effort searching for the best price or looking for a discount to get a better deal or even compromising quality to spend less. So many times it happens that the cheapest price is not the best gauge for that item, product or service. What about the disappointment we feel when the item or service doesn't live up to our expectation? This is how I am. I will compare price while rarely looking at quality or service. For example, to save a few bucks I will tolerate the horrible customer service and mediocre quality of  "Stuff-Mart" instead of going to a specialty store for the better quality, & better customer service at a higher price. There really is no shame in that game, we do it all the time, right?

But look at it from this view, you wouldn't take your Harley Davidson Motorcycle to the local Toyota dealer for service even if the price was less then the local HD dealership would you? NOPE! Why? Because the HD dealer in our example is where the HD factory trained tech is. The tech has knowledge & tools to get the job done right. In my recent experience I found myself disappointed, angry, and just generally *screwed due to my choice to compromise quality and expertise to save a few bucks! Looking back I can see how if I had went right to the source, I would've saved money, time, effort & peace in the long run.

Yet this is how we live our daily lives. We go from relationship to relationship looking for a heart connection. We substitute drugs or alcohol for joy. We hurt others with our words or actions to build our self worth. I've heard it said that hurting people hurt people. I believe that is a true statement. The bible says this in Proverbs 27:7; To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. To me that means as you fill your soul with junk, as you fill your life with stuff, as you compromise to try and get ahead, you will be disappointed, hurt let down and as I stated before SCREWED! You can't expect a person or thing to satisfy your soul after all, people are pretty much alike!

I would challenge you to run to The Source: God, Jesus Christ. He can fill that hole in your life, He won't disappoint, hurt, or let you down. Jesus said it this way: "I will never leave you or forsake you - never." There is no joy like His joy, there is no peace like His peace! He wrote the manual (The Bible) so don't waste your time looking for satisfaction in relationships, drugs, alcohol etc. RUN TO THE SOURCE SO YOU DON'T GET SCREWED!