Today’s Scripture Reading
(September 24, 2018): Leviticus 5
I had a discussion
this past summer with a person I had met on the beach about e-books, or more specifically, e-book pricing. At the time I
was reading from a Kobo, and he was reading from a Kindle. And as we were
discussing our e-books, he mentioned that the reason why he had chosen Kindle
was that he had found that, on average, the price of books through Amazon, the
maker of the Kindle, were lower than they
were through Barnes and Noble or Indigo or other booksellers. My leaning towards the Kobo was because it is based on
an industry standard reading platform and accepts books from a wide variety of
available booksellers, while Kindle only
accepts books available from Amazon.
But my friend was
right. I have found that books bought through
Amazon are, in fact, cheaper than those available through Barnes and Noble,
Kobo, or other booksellers. But I know I can also get them even cheaper
through the Kobo price guarantee. The idea is that if I find a book cheaper
than Kobo is willing to sell it to me for, and to find that lower price I
usually look to Amazon, then they will refund the difference, plus a penalty
for being more expensive. I get that Kobo hopes
that most people who buy from them won’t bother to check, but I do and submit the email that results in a
refund (which only takes me a couple of
moments to complete.) As a result, I get the book I want, on the reading
platform that I want, and for a price lower than Amazon.
The price guarantee
in itself is also standard. Most companies that offer it are willing to refund
the difference, plus pay a premium for having a higher
price. Again, the companies are not necessarily all that sure that they have
the lowest price. They are hoping that the guarantee will comfort the buyer
that they are getting the best price and
that they will make the purchase, and never really check for a better price. In
a “brick and mortar” selling world it is probably a smart gamble, but in the online
world, the comparison is too easy – especially if you happen to know where to
look.
It is this
principle that also finds its way into the Mosaic Law. There is no doubt that
God knows of our transgressions even when we don’t. But again, even when it
comes to our spiritual lives, ignorance is no excuse for our violation. And so
Israel is instructed to come with their sacrifices as soon as they recognize
their sin. But beyond that, they were expected to pay a premium to the priests
to make restitution for their error.
As Christians, we
understand that Jesus is our sacrifice for our sin. But we sometimes forget
that the idea of restitution still belongs to us. It is not enough to be
forgiven if we are not willing to go beyond and pay restitution to those we
have hurt. Even though the sacrifice has already been made on our behalf, the idea of consequences for our action is
still valid. And those consequences still have to be paid.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Leviticus 6
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