I am grateful to God that I have always been able to go generic.
The rest of my family doesn’t use generic products. My wife uses expensive shampoo, sold only at the beauty shop. Next to her exotic brand sits my own luxury bottle: “Big Blue Dandruff Shampoo.” She has specialized hairspray and I have “Stuff That Plasters Your Hair to Your Head,” guaranteed to hold every strand in place during a category five hurricane. My sons only wear designer cologne. For Christmas, they want Polo or Cool Water, but I’m so blessed that they give me something called “Tester.”
In sickness, my family requires the big names like Sudafed or Benadryl. Not me! My medicine comes in a plain white box with large black letters reading, “Tiny Red Tablets for People with Big Runny Noses” or “Bottle of Red Liquid to Guzzle So You’ll Feel Drowsy.” Who needs Diet Coke? Instead, I choose the real man’s drink, “Buy-Rite Cola” – equally good, sometimes carbonated.
The only jeans that fit my sons are from American Eagle or Old Navy. But I’m so blessed. My brand is sold at outlet malls: “Irregular.” I have no problem wearing generic clothing or using generic products, but when I look into the mirror, generic ends and incredible begins. I know what Scripture says about my identity:
“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14)
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“You are the salt of the earth” … “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13-14)
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
There’s nothing generic about being fearfully and wonderfully made, being salt and light, and God’s making us a royal priesthood. The enemy wants me to see myself as generic. But I wear a label that says, “Handcrafted by God.”
I’m so glad that when God decided to save the world, He did not send a generic savior. Instead, He sent us His Son, Jesus Christ – the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, the Alpha and Omega, the Creator of the universe. When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, He didn’t make my life generic and ordinary. Instead, He says I’m a designer original, a person He knew before the foundation of the world. He has called me to be His child – the child of a King. He allows me access to His throne and clothes me not in generic brands, but in His righteousness. I am truly blessed.
If you want your children to live blessed lives, teach them to be satisfied with generic brands and find total fulfillment in nothing less than the best – a designer Savior.
