Amazing Things

They usually came dressed incredibly sharp, in their super-creased three-pieced suits, “Dapper Dan” glistening hair, shiny time pieces and expensive looking shoes.

In the late 18th going into the early 20th century, snake oil salesmen were traveling the United States and before that Europe, selling THE most amazing product. Snake oil or in the old country, viper oil.

According to Wikipedia:
The snake oil peddler became a stock character in Western movies: a traveling “doctor” with dubious credentials, selling fake medicines with boisterous marketing hype, often supported by pseudo-scientific evidence. To increase sales, an accomplice in the crowd (a shill) would often attest to the value of the product in an effort to provoke buying enthusiasm. The “doctor” would leave town before his customers realized they had been cheated.

Snake oil really wasn’t anything amazing. It was merely a panacea made from: mineral oil, 1% fatty oil (presumed to be beef fat), red pepper, turpentine and camphor. Not a trace of snake extract anywhere. The US government at the time would end up suing one of the most popular brands Clark Stanley, which resulted in the industry essentially folding in on itself. Sadly, humanity has always sought that single cure that didn’t cost too much. Thank God grace isn’t for sale.

The writer of the hymn Amazing Grace, John Newton, knew just how powerful the cure for sin could be. It lifted him from being a rebellious sailor and slave trader to being a true convert to Christianity and the writer of probably the most known hymn in human history. In his own words he once wrote: “I sinned with a high hand, and I made it my study to tempt and seduce others.” So many persons we walk by on a daily basis we would never believe could become anything close to ministering God’s word much less to be baptized. The rock bottom truth though is, Amazing Grace does amazing things! Ask yourself right now, what has it changed in your life? If it hasn’t yet, the truth is, you barely know Him. And we like the snake oil salesman are selling something composed of empty prayers and shallow love. We rob grace of its power by living a life disconnected from God. We may be dressed up in the finest salvation money can buy, but deep down, we may be lost at the very throne. Amazing grace, does amazing things…let it.

— YorkAli Walters

Jan 24, 2025

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9