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 Some
of the best Burnet stories go back to the days before tourists,
when local citizens had to make a living off of one-another. A
certain “filling station” operator was not happy to see a
neighbor “blow a tire” in front of his establishment, but he
just happened to be taking the right sized tube down from the
shelf when the customer walked in.
“How
much for that tube?” the man asked warily.
“$2.15,”
he was told.
The
buyer raised his hands in protest. “$2.15?? Why, I can get
that size tube from Sears and Roebuck for $1.98! !“
With
an air of resignation the operator said, “Well, guess I’ll
have to let you have it exactly like Sears and Roebuck would.”
He took the fellow’s money, put it in the cash drawer; and
then, to the man’s astonishment, replaced the tube high upon
the shelf.
“Now
just be patient,” he said. “Like Sears and Roebuck, you’ll
get this tube through the mail in three or four days.”
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Perhaps
we never outgrow the childish desire to both “have our cake and eat it.”
We want to spend this life on this life — as though there were
no tomorrow — and then have a beautiful life awaiting us in
heaven. Something like wanting a big bank account without ever
making a deposit (Matt. 6: 19-21) It doesn’t work that way.
Jesus said, “Whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
(Matt. 16: 25 AS)
Those
who want heaven right now, in this life, must ignore the
weightier respon -sibilities of preparing for the real thing in
eternity, and take such scraps of “happiness” as this life
affords. But they pay, and pay dearly, for each sensation.
And
all illustrations and comparisons of material and eternal
blessings have their limitations. The tube one gets from Sears
(excuse me, Mr. Roebuck) will “blow” just like the one in
the filling station. In this life one pays for convenience,
service, and material — all of which are soon to pass away.
But the wise man counts the cost, pays the price, (Lu. 14:
26-33) and rides the golden Street on a tube that never “blows”.
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