Simple Life Day #2 Part 1

No Sale Pitch Needed

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Danki [thank you] for helping me with the pie stand today," Emmas said to her teenaged sons, Adam and Joseph.
"Du bischt willkumm [you are welcome]." Adam wiggled his dark eyebrows. "Everything looks good, and I may eat a whole pie myself if we don't see them all."
"We'd better do what we can to be sure they sell." Joseph poked his brother playfully. "Mom's gone to a lot of work baking all these goodies."
Emma clicked her tongue. "We don't want to do a sales pitch when folks stop by. The best way is to let the baked goods sell themselves."
"Jah, that's right," Adam agreed. "If the pies look good, then people will buy."
A short time later, a van pulled up, and two English women got out.
"I hear that the Amish make some real tasty pies," one of the women commented as they approached the stand.
"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Emma asked with a smile, making no reference to her pies.
"it certainly is," the second English woman agreed.
"You're welcome to look around," Joseph said. "And if you have any questions, feel free to ask."
The first woman smiled. "All of the pies look wonderful. I'm sure any of them would be good."
Emma nodded. "I hope so."
"Do you have any shoofly pie?" the other woman questioned. "That's my favorite kind."
"Right over there." Adam pointed to the left side of the stand.
The woman picked up two pies and brought them over to the battery-opperated cash register where Emma stood. "I'll take these."
"I'm going to get an apple-crumb pie," the other woman said.
A shorttime later, as the women walked back to their van, one of them said, "It's nice to buy something without getting a sales pitch."
Emma smiled at her boys, knowing they'd heard it, too. They'd made the right choice, letting the quality of the product do all the selling that was needed.
Often we feel frustrated when someone gives us a sales pitch. We become wary and doubtful of what they're saying. It can be the same when we talk about our faith. We should avoid trying to "sell" someone on Jesus. Instead, by allowing people to see God's light and love in us, they will be more apt to come to Him. Let the work He's doing in our lives do the talking.
In John 13:35 Jesus told His disciples the following: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
May others know we belong to Jesus by the love they see in us.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:Lamps do not talk; they shine.

FOOD FOR THE BODY: Shoofly Pie

Ingredients: 1 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter (crumbled)
1 cup light molasses (or 1/2 cup dark molasses and 1/2 cup Karo syrup)
3/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, beaten
Prepared pie shell

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the flour, brown sugar, and butter together in a small bowl. In anothe rbowl, mix the molasses, boiling water, soda, and beaten egg. Add half the crumb mixture to the liquid mixture, but do not beat. Pour into prepared pie shell and cover the top with the remaining crumbs. Bake for 10 minutes; then lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 30 minutes. May be served as a breakfast pie or as dessert.


I don't know about you, but when it comes to Jesus I tend to be one of two types of salesman. Sadly, the one I have been most often is the nonexistent salesman. You know the type. They never acknowledge you are in the store; they make you feel totally ignored. I get this treatment a lot because apparently I don't look old enough to really be interested in purchasing things such as cologne for my husband. Anyways, unfortunately I do tend to choose not to tell people about Jesus. Why? Well I tend to believe, or at least convince myself, that everyone already knows or already goes to church. I know that isn't true. If it were, our world would be a lot better place. It's like I think what I know isn't worth sharing. That's a bunch of hogwash (to quote my fil). Jesus is definitely worth sharing.

I've also been quilty of being the other kind of salesman. The pushy kind that won't get off your back for two seconds. They follow you around, making you (or at least me) not want to buy anything. This is the salesman that the devotional was referring to. Oversaling Jesus! Why do we feel the need to do this? Don't we know that He is good enough to sale himself. It cracks me up that we would think we are capable to add some kind of good to God. I mean honestly, think about it. Like I said, even I've been guilty of this.

The nonbeliever doesn't need either one of the types of salesman. They need us to tell them about Jesus, yes! The Bible demands that we share the good news, but we have to show it too. It's a fine line that I'm sure we've all crossed more than once. But I'm thankful this devotional has brought it to my attention again so that I can be more aware of it in the future.

And that's it. That's all I have to night - I hope this makes since as I am very tired!!