Trail Mix Jesus

     GORP, nosh, scroggin, schmogle, snack mix, or trail mix; whatever you call it we all like it in some way shape or form. That bag of mixed goodies we buy or create to satisfy our snack craving while watching tv, on a road trip, or wherever. My personal plan for creating the desired snack is to buy the pre-made trail mix then enhance it with a variety of M&Ms. Be it plain, peanut, or peanut butter.

However there is a flaw with the pre-made variety. It contains things we just don’t want in our trail mix. So we dig through the bag and just eat the good stuff which leaves us with a bunch of stuff at the bottom we eventually just toss in the garbage. What’s up with those round brown crunchy things in Chex Mix? Does anybody actually eat them or are they there to ensure the dogs get a snack while we’re munching?

We’ve developed this same mentality with Jesus. My copilot, my friend, and my homeboy. Or, as I’ve recently discovered during a recent search he is also known as J-dog, Captain Miracle, God Jr., and Floaty Toes. Whatever you call Him, like snack mix, we approach him in two ways. One, we create the perfect Jesus for our life. A lot of Savior, a little but of healer, and a whole lot of love. That Jesus is palatable. Or if we go with the prepackaged bible version Jesus we cherry pick those parts we like (see the aforementioned Savior, healer, love Jesus) and leave the rest of Him in the Bible. Jesus as Lord, as sanctifier, as King we feed to those super Christians, pastors, and missionaries.
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In John chapter 6 the people just feasted on a good meal of bread and fish. Afterwards they tracked Jesus down for more of the ‘good stuff.’ He basically tells them I want you to partake of all of me, not just what you consider the good stuff. Many of them walked away. I fear that is what we do. There is so much more to Jesus than what we consider the ‘good stuff.’
When we partake of all of Him we will find ourselves more nourished than we ever thought possible and capable of being sustained on our journey throughout life on earth.

Pastor Rob