I was watching a popular tv show this morning and it had a mothers day special with all kinds of gifts at different price levels that you could buy your mom. It started with small things like gardening tools and decorative things for the home. Then there were some perfumes and other items around 100 dollars. Then the guest on the show said, “If price is no object, this last one is for you!” Then she showed us a watch “or time piece” she called it, which cost more than my yearly salary. When I saw it I thought to myself…how in the world is that so expensive? I’ve seen watches that look just like that at Ross for 9 dollars. But then she started describing the watch in detail. This has a white alligator band. It’s face, which is made of pearl is surrounded by real princess cut diamonds with superior clarity. The gold that you see is 24 karat and it has a lifetime warranty.
Now when she described it I realized that what I had seen at Ross was an imitation. The band was probably plastic or synthetic leather, the gold was plated, and the diamonds weren’t diamonds at all. However, at first glance it looked really good. And it was cheap! The crazy thing is, I wouldn’t have known the difference because I know nothing about diamonds and I wouldn’t think to check the gold…. and to be honest, I wouldn’t know the real thing if I saw it. I’d probably think the real thing was fake because the imitations are so similar looking to the real thing, especially to those who don’t know a lot about jewelry.
I don’t think I’d ever see that watch on anyone’s wrist and believe it was real because you see those watches everywhere for so cheap.
But the truth is, though they look similar to the naked eye. There is no comparison in value and worth. There is a huge gap in the imitation and the real deal.
I think it’s amazing that although there are so many imitations, the price of the real deal doesn’t decrease; however, when the stores get flooded with imitations, the imitations soon become cheaper. If the price seems too high, people know they can find it somewhere else at a price they are more comfortable paying.
A. I don’t want imitations in my life. I don’t want an imitation relationship with my wife that cut corners and didn’t cost as much upfront but cost later.
B. If you watch those classic car auctions on tv then you’ll quickly discover that the cars that are all original that have been maintained are more expensive. They don’t have imitation parts or motors that weren’t intended for them. The true collector wants the car the way it was designed to be.
C. Casual: the watch on the tv wasn’t a watch that you’d wear with a ballgown or to a fancy event. It was a casual style watch. The real deal isn’t just for your dress up time. Not just for Sunday mornings and places where you’ll be seen by all your friends. If you’re the real deal, you’re all so pure during your casual times and in the casual places. You’re still the real deal when you sit at home to watch a movie in the privacy of your home. You’re still the real deal and pure when you go to a ball game. You still choose extracurricular activities that aren’t imitation. You can’t buy a watch of that quality at Ross among the mark downs and imitations because it’s still in season. It’s still fine quality and it’s found in high quality places.
D. Don’t expect to find a high quality, pure Christian in a bar at midnight drinking with their friends.
E. Every once in a while you come across a person selling something cheap because they don’t know the value of it. Or they think, I’ll never need this, I’ll just sell it to have a little something for right now. This culture has convinced us that some of our most valuable things are cheaps and that we’ll never need them. So why not sell them now for a little instant gratification. One of those things is sexual purity.