Jesus Flavored, or Jesus Filled?
"Blueberry Pomegranate, 100 percent juice, all natural."
On the label, a ripe pomegranate spilled its exotic, glistening seeds onto mounds of fat, perfect blueberries.
I've read that blueberries and pomegranates are rich in antioxidants that may prevent cancer and other diseases. I imagined the juice of these "super fruits" coursing through my body, neutralizing cancer-causing "free radicals." Pomegranate and blueberry juice would sweep my body clean. Over the lips, through the gums, look out toxins, here it comes!
And then I read the ingredients list: "Filtered water, pear juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate." Where was the blueberry? Where was the pomegranate? Finally I found them, fifth and seventh on a list of nine ingredients, after mysteriously unspecified "natural flavors."
By law, food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. That means a product contains the greatest proportion of the first ingredient on the list and successively less of those farther down. So according to this list, the jug in my hand held mostly water and other juices, with just enough blueberry and pomegranate for flavor and color.
In the bottom corner of the front label, in small, easy-to-miss type, were the tell-tale words: "Flavored juice blend with other natural ingredients." The enticing pictures and clever labeling were decoys to sell a diluted, blueberry-pomegranate flavored product, convincingly disguised to look like something it wasn't. I put the juice back on the shelf.
I left the store empty-handed and wondering, What if I had an ingredients list printed on me? Would Jesus be the main ingredient? If not, how far down the list would he be? Would my "label" accurately represent my contents? Or would I falsely project a misleading outward appearance that cleverly masked diluted ingredients? My packaging may be convincing. I may look and sound like the real thing. But what if someone came to me looking for Jesus beneath my "Christian" label and found something else? Something Jesus-flavored, but not Jesus-filled?
I often pray, "More of Jesus, less of me." What I mean is I want my spirit to be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). I want my personal ingredients list to be "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit … full of God's grace and power" (Acts 6:5, 8).
The word full means completely, maximally filled. It means holding all there is space for, containing as much as possible. A full container has no room for anything else. When God gave us Jesus, he gave us himself, fully, purely, undiluted: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ" (Colossians 2:9-10). God also gave us a Savior who was "full of the Holy Spirit" (Luke 4:1).
Related Topics:
Character, Fullness, spiritual, Intimacy with God, Lifestyle
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steph885
This really hit home. Sometimes it's just something we need to hear. Loved the article!
Jackie
WOW! What an amazing analogy. This article spoke to me on a very personal level as I have been seeking God's guidance in choosing the best way to serve Him in several areas of opportunity He has presented. Thank you Erin for helping me see that it's the "foundation" of service rather than the "place" of service that's important.
Sam
Great article Erin!
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