Makin' Bacon

Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

We live by our senses, don't we? .....You know, hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching ...without them, it would be a rather scary world! We use these senses for everything! We use them to judge whether food is good or not, or if a picture is pretty or not, if something is too loud, or dangerous....in every aspect of our lives........we use our senses. Does Christ shine through you, so that others, by using their senses can see Him in you? Can a sinner see God by looking at you? Can a sinner hear God by what you speak? Can a sinner smell the sweet aroma of our Jesus on you? Can a sinner taste God in you? Psalm 34:8 says, "O taste and see that the Lord is good...". Have you ever met someone, that when you walked away from them, you almost had a bad taste in your mouth because they were so bitter?

Our senses let us know quickly if we like something or not. If something is too loud, or a song out of tune..we know quickly we do not want to hear more. If something looks horrible, we quickly turn away. If something stinks, we hold our noses and run! If something tastes bad, we are quick to spit it out. If something feels rough or gross, we drop it quickly! Our senses guide us to our likes and away from our dislikes. They guide us to our comfort and away from pain and discomforts.

Okay, I see your inquisitive expression, wondering where I am going...talking about senses, and titling this blog "Makin' Bacon"....okay, I'll get to that. My youngest daughter had late basketball practice the other night. As you know with the change in season it gets pretty chilly when the sun goes down, and with the time change, it gets darker earlier now. While I was at home, I began to try to think of what I could cook for dinner. We like to have breakfast for dinner sometimes and that seemed to hit the spot. I started quickly preparing what I could until time to go pick her up. I put the biscuits in the oven, got the grits started, and started cooking the bacon. Well, if you've cooked bacon, then you know that it puts off quite an aroma. It had literally permeated my clothing. And by the way...who doesn't like bacon...or like to smell it cooking?

I look at the time, and it is time to go pick her up. She is always starving after practice, and always jumps in the car asking what is for dinner. Well, this night, she opens the car door....stops for a second, then says, "Oh yummy.....I smell bacon!" The biggest smile came on her face, and she was my cheerleader all the way home, trying to get us home as fast as possible. She reminded me of those puppy commercials were the dog dances with delight over the smell of bacon!

God began working this thought into my soul....how does the world perceive Christ when they use their senses and see me? I didn't have a sign on the car door telling my daughter what I was cooking bacon. I didn't call ahead and tell the coach what I was cooking. I wasn't yelling out my car window that I was cooking bacon. My t-shirt I was wearing said nothing about bacon on it. I didn't have the car radio cranked up with songs about bacon sounding loudly.....how did she know??? She used her sense of smell. I had been in close contact with the bacon. I had cut it, cooked it, cared for it....I had a personal relationship and knowledge of the bacon. And because I had, it had rubbed off on me. She smelled the bacon on my clothes. It was such a tantilizing smell, that her saliva glands were on overload before we got home! She was about to die....for bacon!!

I could have changed my clothes before I left, could have sprayed perfume all over trying to disguise the smell...but I didn't. I could've burned the bacon, by being careless, and changed the whole aspect of the smell of bacon. The point is....if you are spending time with Christ, if you crawl up in His lap and learn of Him....then h is going to rub off on you, and one or more of this world's 'senses' are going to notice. They will see Christ in you....and crave for more! you don't have to get in their face and cram Christ down their throats. Christ will be so sweet on you, they will want more of Him!

God help me to spend time with Hm so others will see His light through me. So they will hear Christ through me, so they can taste His goodness and want more, so they can touch the hem of His garment! I want Him to increase and myself to decrease. I don't want to add or take away anything of him and distort His love! I want the true loving Christ to shine through me and point others to the cross! So....the next time you are makin' bacon, soak in the wonderful aroma, and remember the light of Christ that is being portrayed through you!!

Do You Know 'The Way'?

John 14:4-6 "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Let that soak in for a while. HE IS THE WAY!!! My oldest daughter is 15, and has her learner's license. So therefore, she takes the wheel at every opportunity. That is the way it should be! It is often funny, because often times I tell her where we are going, and this distant look comes on her face. I can tell she is thinking really hard. She then will exclaim, "Oh, okay, I think I know the way!" I have to smile. You see, for 15 yrs. of her life, she was either in the backseat...or as she got older....in the front passenger seat. She was taken everywhere, and never needed to really study the roads to know where to go for herself.

As I studied this passage, I could see myself in ole Thomas, and watching my daughter figure out her way around a town she was born and raised in......these verses hit home for me. You see, the disciples dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus as he asked. They went everywhere with him and saw him perform many miracles and listened to his teachings. Then, as it came time for Jesus to die on the cross......Thomas finally realized.......oh no....how do we know the way???

Just as my daughter has begun to realize that even though she has rode with me all her life to most of these places...she has not had to do it herself. Thomas was also realizing that he had been following Jesus...and now what was he to do...how was he to know the way?

I recently, myself have tasted this new freedom. I have had to break away from my raising, my heritage, my family's religion, if you will........and tested the waters for myself. Not that I have gone astray or changed religions... but I have decided that I have to live for Christ myself, not ride my families coat tails. I had to get into the drivers seat for myself. It is scary, and I know Thomas was nervous.......but once we realize that HE IS THE WAY.......it all falls into place. Trust in Him, get into His Word and learn it for yourself. Now that my daughter has driven herself to several places, she no longer has to ask how to get there or study it out......she knows the way. What an awesome peace and freedom to know......The Way!