Tuesday 23rd December 2025
Norman Smith
“… those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.”
Galatians 3:9 (NRSV)
Saved by Faith
English language is awash with idioms we use every day to describe life’s experience. You will have used, “It’s too good to be true” yourself many times. Idioms resonate with us because they reflect things we know to be true, at least from human experience.
Ever heard of Leonard vs Pepsico? This is the very famous case of Pepsi running a promotion in America to give away a Harrier jump jet, thinking no one would ever get enough tokens, but someone did! When Pepsi refused to give away a combat fighter Leonard took Pepsi to court and thankfully lost. Alas, Leonard and other users realised the offer as advertised really was too good to be true.
On this side of the pond: anyone remember the Hoover free flights promotion of 1992? Buy any Hoover product worth at least £100 and receive two free tickets to America worth £600. They expected and planned for 50,000 applications to the promotion but received over 300,000. Ultimately Hoover UK never recovered and was sold on to Candy, whilst also losing the royal warrant they had had for years. Again, too good to be true, this time from Hoover UK’s perspective.
These are just two examples of many. Unsurprisingly, Christianity turns human experience on its head. Abraham believed God and God declared Abraham righteous. God gave to Abraham, through faith, something he could not buy no matter how hard he worked or how much wealth he amassed. Abraham in turn lived his life believing God could and would deliver on his promises. Both Abraham and God had what we call a covenant.
One of the greatest difficulties people have with Christianity is believing the offer from God is too good to be true. To use yet another phrase, “What’s the catch?”
The catch is we need to lay our everyday experience aside and believe God will do what he has promised. It all comes down to faith.
Shall we pray?
God who entered a covenant through faith with Abraham, you promise us that same covenant through faith in Jesus Christ. Your offer is so generous (and so different to offers humans make) that we struggle at times to grasp just how vast the offer really is. Help us to live in faith, knowing you will keep your word and you will remember your covenant with us. Amen.
Norman Smith is Presbytery Clerk for Lothian and Borders Presbytery.
Thinking it through:
Pepsi never expected anyone to take them at their word and win the plane. How does your life show that you do expect God to keep his word?
Hoover found the promise too costly and never recovered. What is the everyday cost of your faith?
Thinking of your day-to-day life, where does it show you have a covenant with God? And, more importantly, God has one with you?