Sock Shopping

OR: Why a Relationship With Jesus is Better Than Marriage

I was in an outfitting store today and saw the greatest pair of purple wool hiking socks, but I didn't buy them because they were like $16+. But I wanted them.

Imagine you are in a similar situation. Your feet are cold and you need socks to keep them toasty warm. So you're shopping and finally find a pair of World-Socks that, while maybe a little pricey, are worth your money. While there may still be a little chill in your bones with them on (after all, hiking in Alaska can get brisk), they will keep your feet pretty warm-ish. Plus they will help wick away the sweat when the hiking gets tough. Their sizing is the typical sock sizing (for foot sizes 4-10) so they're in your range. The World-Socks are pretty high quality so they will last you several years, but eventually you know that they will wear out and get holes and you will have to throw them away. They just won't last forever. The packaging is a little jostled and you wonder if previous shoppers have ever tried them on before. But, again, they're pretty high quality so you finally decide to buy them. Overall, you're satisfied with your purchase.

Later (five minutes, five years, whatever), you see a pair of Life-Socks in the same store. They are seriously the coolest socks you have ever seen. Not only do they keep your feet 100% toasty warm even in the snow, they keep them perfectly dry too. They're size 8.5 so it's like they're custom-made for your feet. The Life-Socks package (which has clearly never been opened) advertises a lifetime guarantee: they will literally never wear out. They seem too good to be true and you almost walk away, thinking they must be way out of your price range, when you notice that little orange sticker: FREE.

Of course you buy the Life-Socks even though you may have already invested in the World-Socks. You still want to keep the World-Socks because, after all, they were a pretty good find, but you know that they'll never compare to your Life-Socks. In fact, wearing them both together is the toasty warmness you were looking for, even though the Life-Socks would suffice on their own. One is clearly far better than the other, but they're both good socks.

That's all.


God bless.