Dear Readers,
This title of my blog post may have scared you away, and if so, I apologize. But if you are still reading, then I have nothing to worry about. You know me by now, that sometimes my blog consists of recipes, mommy moments, and heart to heart conversations. This is one of the latter.
I haven't posted a recipe in a while, and mainly because I have been too busy to try anything new in the kitchen. Since Thanksgiving, it has been a roller coaster of events and we have been hanging on for dear life, but also enjoying the ride along the way (what else are we to do when everything falls to pieces! Hang on to whatever is left. In our case, JESUS). Also, my mommy moments have been too embarrassing and extravagant to share. One of these days, I will. With homeschooling, potty training (STILL ... 2 years later oh help me God ...), and working on bad habits like thumb sucking, complaining, whining, sibling rivalry, hitting, disrespect, foul language, name calling ... I can't even begin to collect my thoughts on parenting.
But the one thing I am clear on, is my relationship with Jesus Christ. And that is what I want to talk about tonight.
Entropy ... anyone know what that means? Back in October, I was listening to a Skip Heitzig sermon on the radio while driving and was immediately convicted when he approached the topic of Spiritual Entropy. It is a messy concept. A quantitative measure. It is something hard to directly measure. Entropy is "the natural tendency of the universe to fall apart into disorder". In the bible, the word "entropy" means "shame". (1 Corinthians 6:5, 15:34). It is a shame the universe is disorderly by nature. However, what is more shameful, is when our Spiritual walk is disorderly by nature. God knows we are human. He created us that way. He knows that because of our failures, we need Him. Somewhere deep down inside of us, is that innate desire to get to know our Creator. To ask questions. To get answers. Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going?
The sad part is, when we feel we have the answers to those questions, we stay right there. We are content or complacent with the life we live. It works for us. It's easy. Why change? Why make it more difficult by switching it up, or seeking the unknown? Life is good. Life makes sense. Let's just stay in this place of contentment and survive. SERIOUSLY??????????? That thought process is the definition of Spiritual Entropy. Does life ever just "stay the same"? Heck no. It changes daily. Weekly. Monthly. Something happens. Someone we love passes away suddenly. We get injured and realize we don't have disability insurance. Our spouse loses his/her job. We can't afford our mortgage. Our car breaks down again and again. We are unhappy. The kids are whining all the time. Our house is never clean enough. THAT, my dear reader, is Spiritual Entropy. The natural tendency of the universe (my life) to fall apart into disorder.
GOD LOVES US TOO MUCH TO KEEP US THE WAY WE ARE. He wants to mold us, shape us, change us, excite us, perfect us, challenge us, and LOVE us .... in a way that keeps us wanting more. More of Him. More of life. More out of each day. Carpe Diem, but for Christ. Seize the day ... For God. As a former vegetarian, this next statement is going to shock some of you. Think about steak. A delicious steak dinner. An expensive steak dinner. You are dressed up and out with your significant other, enjoying fine dining. You cut into that that steak with your knife and fork and remove a beautiful piece of that beautiful delicacy from the platter and into your mouth. You savor the taste as it goes down your throat and begins to digest in your stomach. Then you take another bite. You aren't thinking on how your stomach is working overtime to digest that steak. You are just enjoying it. Your hard work of picking the restaurant and making it to your reservation on time, is done.
However, inside your body .... that steak is dissolving. It is transforming into your stomach, becoming one. It cannot pass through unless it is dissolved, digested, conformed to your stomach. The natural tendency of your body. The way God made it. Once that steak digests properly, ahhhhhh, you can breathe a sigh of relief, relax and fit in a few more bites before you realize you have no more room left and that feeling of "stuffed" sets in. Digestion. Dissolved. A natural tendency of your body, the way it was created. As Skip Heitzig says (and I got this analogy idea from him), "We are of most value when we are dissolved in Christ". Whoa. What??? He wants us to be one with Him. Transformed into His image. Dissolved in His will for our lives. Letting go of our stubbornness to do everything ourselves, the way We want it, but to allow HIM to work the way He designed it to be. Designed us to be. Naturally. His vessels. His children. His servants. We are so willing to be a servant to a steak dinner, allowing our body to do the work and digest that steak that we so willingly allowed into our bodies.
What about God's will for our lives? Do we willingly allow him to work through us? Do we want to be dissolved in Him? Do we even realize how much more of value we are on earth, when we let Him work? Work through us? In us? Think about this. It's flu season. It seems like it's been flu season for way too long now. Flu = vomit. Most of the time. What do we vomit? We vomit what we don't digest. I know, you're thinking "ewww" that's gross. Well, yes, it is. If we aren't willing to be dissolved (digested) in Christ, we will be vomited up. Like food poisoning. It wrecks havoc through our body and our bodies won't rest until the poison is out. A good, clean, and well-cooked steak has no problem dissolving into the juices of our stomach. But if that steak isn't cooked properly? Our natural tendency would be to vomit it up. We fall apart. Until something (Brat diet, haha, ginger ale, pretzels) comes along and restores the chaos.
We need to be dissolved in Christ. So that the outcome is a healthy one. Don't just settle for the way things are. For life as we know it. SEEK to be changed. DESIRE to know God better. REPENT of complacency. Take the plunge and allow God to work in and through you, according to His will for your lives. It's worth the sacrifice. He sacrificed above and beyond for us. Why can't we do it in return?
BE DISSOLVED IN CHRIST. It's okay. Really, it is. Don't let this world's disorder distract you from God's blessings, hope, and purpose for living. It's worth living. Really, it is. We have to stop allowing the fear of man to quench the power of God's presence. In our lives. In our homes. In our souls. Letting go and allowing God to have His way with you, is the beginning of freedom. It opens the doors to eternity, and that is something worth fighting for.
