August 18, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Friday, August 18.
Today is National Mail Order Catalog Day. Why did they choose August 18th? Because, on this day in 1872, Montgomery Ward issued the first retail catalog. It was only one page, and featured only 163 items. Just five years later, the "wish book" had grown to 150 pages, and boasted over 3,000 items. Americans could use the catalog to buy clothing, toys, tools, even entire houses. And consumers were promised "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back". Wards invented that slogan.
I have a 1927 copy of the Montgomery Ward catalog in my book collection. Every once in a while, I'll pull it off the shelf and thumb through it. It's a piece of history. It's an interesting antique. It's a trivial curiosity. But, if I was to tear out the order page and mail it in, I wouldn't expect anything in return. Wards discontinued its catalog in 1985 and closed its last store in 2001.
I forgot to mention another item that was featured in the Montgomery Ward catalog... Bibles. Have you got one in your house? Sure you do, everybody does, or at least everybody has electronic access to the Word. But unfortunately, many view the Bible as just a piece of history, a curiosity, an irrelevant relic. And they don't expect anything from it.
Psalm 119:18 is a prayer - "Open my eyes that I may behold Your wondrous Word". God hasn't closed down His business. The Bible is still relevant, still useful, still powerful.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
Meet you back here on Monday,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
