FROSTED FLAKE FAITH
Blah Humbug. No, I didn't misspell 'Bah" I meant to say "Blah". Yesterday the kids made there way back to school after the Christmas break. Down came the tree, and with it, the other bits and bobbles nestled here and there Throughout the house.
In one sense, it's great to get all the Christmas stuff packed away and have the household back to normal, but at the same time, part of me also goes 'rats!", as life's routine reappears in all it's frantic finery. It seems to me that the Christmas break is long enough to disrupt all of the kid's bedtime schedules, but not long enough to do everything you wanted to do. Still, the break, the change, the time of faith, family and fun, really does bring with it some great bonuses and blessings.
Yet, who among us would entertain, even for the briefest of moments, the possibility that living in a lifelong Christmas would be a happy thing? Give me the biggest Christmas addict you can find and I'm sure that in no less that two, or three months, the former Jingle Bell junkie would be in turkey rehab. Too much of a good thing is - too much! Ain't I profound.
For example, I've met lots of Christians who have wandered from church to church in search of that continuous mountaintop experience (CME). Don't get me wrong, mountaintop experiences are 'high' up on my "to do" list. Yes, 'tis true, I've had a few of those epiphanies when the "I got it" light flicks on and the heavenly choir sings. I've had God bumps go up and down my spine. (God bumps are like goose bumps, but much bigger and better!)
I think the first time I ever experienced any upper elevation elation was when I finally felt forgiven. I'd been a Christian for about a year or so. I know, I know, some of us are slow on the spiritual uptake! I had understood that when I gave my life to Christ, I was forgiven, but my understanding was in my head, not my heart. I understood my forgiveness in theory, but I didn't feel it in practice. Does this make sense to any of you?
Anyway, I was reading a book about one of the daughters of Moses David, who founded the 'Children of God' cult and she talked about finally feeling forgiven several years after she rejected her dad's teaching and left the cult. Somehow in this book on a cult, God rather unexpectedly, touched me with the felt knowledge that I WAS FORGIVEN! Wow! I climbed that mountain so fast that I got a nose bleed. I can still recall the sights, the sounds, the feeling. I often return to that particular mountain just to remind myself of the reality it represents. But, I wouldn't want to stay up there.
You see, you can climb a mountain and rejoice in the breath-taking beauty of the view, but you can't live up there. Life is always lived in the foothills and valleys, not on top of a mountain. Mountains give us perspective; they encourage our walk and give us strength, but after awhile the thin air and lack of real food or water leaves us weakened.
Let me put it to you this way: don't fall into the trap of being a Frosted Flake Christian. Frosted Flakes are very tasty, but a steady diet of just Frosted Flakes isn't going to produce a healthy, growing human being. In the same way, a healthy growing Christian isn't developed by always looking for the next spiritual high. We also need the meat and potatoes of service, sacrifice, and obedience. We need the nourishment that comes from that wonderful "P" word - perseverance!
When all is said and done, I love the shimmer and shine of Christmas, but I also know that real life is lived outside the tinsel of the holiday season. There comes a time to pack away what dazzles and get back to living in the real world. After all, it was upon the cross, not in the stable, that our salvation was won. Likewise, it is in the enduring, not in the elation, that our faith becomes the victory that overcomes the world. Besides, next Christmas is just around the corner!
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."(Jam 1:2-4)
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