“In many parts of the country, a million bucks
will buy you a mansion. In New York City, you can get a 12-foot by 23-foot slab
of concrete. Yes, Manhattan's first $1 million parking space is scheduled to go
on the market this fall”, reports Martha C. White in an msn.com article. The parking spot is a private garage in
located in a building that is being remodeled into luxury condominiums. Owners of the best condos will have the
opportunity to purchase this parking space to go with it.
White
says, “The parking space, dubbed ‘the
city’s gaudiest garage’ by the Post, will have a separate deed and sales
contract. Based on an average 6 percent commission, this means a real estate
agent could earn $60,000 … for selling this parking spot.”
The article goes on to say: “So what does the owner get for a million
bucks plus maintenance fees? Direct street access thanks to a curb cut in front
of the garage door, along with 15-foot ceilings. The ceilings are high enough
that the spot can be "duplexed;" that is, an elevator can be added so
the owner can stack two cars in the space.
“This
two-for-one capability might make $1 million seem like a little bit more of a
bargain, but the owner would still have to get a $115 parking ticket every
single day for 24 years straight to equal the cost of the spot, the Post
calculated.”
Isn’t
it amazing how highly people value a place to belong – a place that is especially
reserved for them? People pay for
tickets to reserve specific seats in a stadium or on an airplane – seats that
belong to them and no one else. It
provides comfort to know that we won’t be left without a place like the last
child standing in a game of musical chairs. People even become possessive of their seats
at church because being displaced from their regular seat leaves them feeling a
little out of place and insecure.
Jesus
taps into this desire for a special place to belong, as he comforts his
disciples in John 14:2-3. There he says (in the NKJV), “In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may
be also.”
A Christian often feels out of place in a world that ridicules our values, and rejects our Lord. What a wonderful thought
to know that Jesus is preparing a place especially for us, if we are his
disciples! We will have a place where we will always belong, and will never be displaced.
If a
parking place to call your own in New York City is work a million dollars, then
how much is a place to call your own in God’s heavenly house worth!?! The value is inestimable. In fact, it is far more than the richest of
us could ever hope to pay. That’s why
the only way that we can hope to obtain it is as a gift from God. This is a gift that He readily offers to
those who would accept his grace through His plan of salvation. Read about that plan here. There is plenty of room for you. Become his follower today, and claim your special place.
