A Great Question

Over the past few years I have noticed a phenomenon. Now, I of course am not a food scientist, but there is a situation that has caused me great alarm in the cookie realm of life. As many of you know I greatly enjoy chocolate chip cookies. Since the beginning of my life I have had a chocolate chip cookie in one hand and a chocolate chip cookie in the other. I really like chocolate chip cookies.

The one thing that I have noticed about chocolate chip cookies is that if they are combined in an storage bag or container with, let's say oatmeal raisin or snicker doodles (which I feel is a total waste of sugar and flour and eggs and vanilla, etc), the chocolate chip cookies take on the aroma of those other cookies and they even taste like those other cookies. This, in my book, is a great tragedy. Why does this happen? Are the chocolate chip cookies so weak in their own aroma and flavor that they cannot resist becoming another cookie even though at their core they are chocolate chip cookies? Does this transfer of aroma and flavor happen because they spend too much time with those other cookies in a sealed environment?

Jesus said "I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12)

As a follower of Jesus his presence and light resides in me and hopefully is being reflected in all that I do. But what happens if I spend too much time in worldly pursuits? What happens if my saltiness loses it's saltiness? I become no good for anything except to be trampled on by men (Matt 5) In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 the Apostle Paul teaches about the relationship between believers and unbelievers. He says what does righteousness have to do with wickedness or light with darkness? This doesn't mean we exclude unbelievers from our lives. If we did that how would they see or hear the truth of the gospel. Paul is speaking to partnership, intimate relationship. What most often happens is that the life for the believer, in an inappropriate relationship with an unbeliever, always becomes difficult. It seems that the unbeliever has more influence on the believer than the other way around. There is to be godly separation between an unbeliever and believer. This may mean that we are friends with an unbeliever but that we don't always go to the places they go or do things that they always do or listen to the music they listen too or watch the same T.V. shows they do. Jesus set for us the perfect of example of hanging out with "sinners" and yet he never was overtaken by their sin. His life always affected theirs. This is our supreme example. We ought to be so close and rooted deep in the Word and resting in the power of God that our life impacts those we hang with, especially those who are unbelievers.

This summer I will be cycling with guys, that for most of them, don't know the Lord in a personal way. Oh I pray my life will be lived in such a way that it positively affects them to ask for the reason for the hope that is in me. May this be the case for all of us as we do life in our place that God has put us. Don't be like a chocolate chip cookie when hanging with an oatmeal raisin cookie that you begin to smell and taste like an oatmeal raisin. Rather, may you always smell and taste like a chocolate chip cookie or better yet, may we smell and taste like Christ, the sweet aroma of grace and mercy and salvation.