$15 Million Mistake

Have you ever made a $15 million mistake?

Russell Christoff became aware of one when he was doing his grocery shopping near his home in California. On the coffee aisle he saw a familiar face on a can of Taster’s Choice; the face staring back at him was his own. Christoff bought a can of the coffee and headed straight to a lawyer’s office. Sixteen years before that trip to the supermarket, Christoff, a kindergarten teacher and part-time model, auditioned for a campaign with Taster’s Choice. He was told he would be notified if he was chosen, but he never heard back.

Years later an employee came across the picture when working on a promotion, and he assumed a contract had been worked out with Christoff. A judge decided that Christoff’s face helped the company sell a lot of coffee, as his image was used on cans in Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and Kuwait, in addition to America. Christoff was awarded five percent of the company’s profits during the years his picture was used, which amounted to $15.3 million dollars.

The employee who assumed he could use Christoff’s picture cost his company a lot of money. In Luke 16 Jesus talks about a man who made a costly mistake. In his life he was rich and comfortable, and he ignored the poor beggar that sat outside his house hoping for scraps of food. Both men died on the same day, and the poor beggar found himself in paradise, while in hell the rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torment (v.23). He soon discovered that his wealth could not deliver him from the wages of his sin; no one could bring him water, no one could quench the flames, and no one could warn his brothers. When he opened up his eyes in hell, it was eternally too late.

We all make mistakes, and some are more costly than others. The employee of Taster’s Choice cost his company dearly, but even that pales in comparison to failing to receive God’s generous offer of salvation. The story of the unnamed rich man in Luke 16 is tragic because no one should have to go to hell. Our mistakes—sin—separate us from God, but because of the gift of Jesus, we all can be forgiven. Accept His offer today. Don’t make the mistake of dying without Jesus.