Monday, 9 December 2013

Marketing Messages

'Believe in Magic & Sparkle', 'Truly Magical', 'Merry & Bright', 'Live well for less', 'Love you Food', 'More of what matters', 'Every little helps' and many more.
These are the marketing messages that we hear and see every week. The run up to Christmas is the busiest time in the year for the shops and businesses which rely on consumers like us buying stuff. 
Without their relentless advertising, we might not be persuaded to spend our money on all that food which we will end up throwing away. What a waste of our money and precious resources. Why do we do it?
We do it because we are convinced that we need (or must have) all that stuff that we manage without during the rest of the year. Why? Because we get caught up in communal madness! Those marketing messages are clearly quite effective.
The Old Testament is full of similar marketing messages, which may whet our appetite for something longer lasting.
For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! (Isaiah 9.6-7)
Isaiah's prophecy, from over 700 years before Jesus, but only 300 years after King David, picks up the idea that when God acts decisively, his kingly rule on earth will make a profound and lasting difference. When Jesus announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God, people of his day will have recalled this earlier marketing message, and joined the dots.
Today, we can be living billboards and advertising agents for the King of Kings, whose righteous rule has brought hope and life to broken people like us. What a privilege!
Best wishes,
Richard

No comments:

Post a Comment