August 4, 2016 (Thursday)
A young lady was observed in a grocery store, pushing her empty shopping cart. She moved from aisle to aisle, but never put anything in her basket. She seemed a little confused and bewildered, so a clerk walked up to her and asked if he could be of help to her. “Well,” she said, I’ve looked up and down every aisle and I cannot find what I’m looking for.” “And what is that?” asked the clerk. “Scratch,” she replied. Seems she had been told by her husband that his mother made all her meals from scratch, so she was looking for some of that stuff.
Wanda, my wife,, made all her meals from scratch. She never bought prepared foods. She bought staples and cooked from scratch. She never brought home a box of dehydrated mashed potatoes. She was horrified at the thought. No, she bought potatoes, peeled them, boiled them, and cooked them in various ways. In her last years, however, she began bringing home corn bread mix. Every evening at supper time, she would bring out the little iron skillet, mix the mix, pouring it into the skillet, and place it in the oven. After about a half hour, she wold take it from the oven and crumble it into a tall glass of milk. It was something she learned at an early age, but the cornbread back then was not a prepared mix. It was the real thing, made with corn meal.
I mentioned this recently in a blog, but here goes again: “Am I the real thing?” Do I really believe in Jesus? Do I behave daily in a way that brings honor and glory to Him? Do I readily confess my faith when asked about it? Does my influence count for Christ?
The “real thing” if we’re talking about living the Christian life on a daily basis is described as “Fruit of the Spirit” by the Apostle Paul, and that fruit, produced in us, is listed by him: “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Paul calls it “The fruit of the Spirit,” but it could also be called, “The Christian life.” It describes Jesus Himself; he was the embodiment of all these things and more.
In 1924, B.B. McKinney wrote a song about our Christian influence. It goes like this: “While
passing through this world below, and others your life shall view, be clean and pure without, within, Let others see Jesus in you.”
