Buffet

I was a picky eater as a kid...okay, I'm still a picky eater but not near as bad. My  two biggest problems were, and are, the textures of food and foods being mixed together. I like the peas and carrots, and I can stomach the corn but don't mix them together! Because of these aversions I used to love it when we would go to a buffet style restaraunt. I could get whatever I wanted as long as I sampled from each of the food groups. I would load up on mashed potatoes and the pudding that was always by the salad. Throw some ham and green beans on the side and I was doing great; no vegetable soup and especially no creamed beef (it's hard to even type that). Now, as a kid, you can claim ignorance of nutritional needs but as an adult you know what your body needs. There are foods that don't help our body. There are some foods you should never eat even though those often taste the best. This brings us to the second hurdle most people face when presented with Jesus and we'll call it "The Buffet".


Let's paint a picture. You are eighteen years old and out of your parents house. It's time for you to go to the Universal Religion Buffet by yourself for the first time. It's exciting! For the first time there won't be anyone telling you what you have to get or frowning at you if you get too much of one thing and none of another. You can walk up and get you favorite entree but this time you can scrape off that "self sacrificing stuff" that normally comes with it. It slowly dawns on you that you are really free to get whatever you want. After all does it really matter what you believe as long as you believe something? One religion is just as good as another, just pick the one you like best and then augment it to your liking.

Wouldn't that be great? I can be totally honest and say I would love it if I could do whatever I wanted. There are some parts of the Christian life I would give up. Some of it is easy but some of it calls for me to deny myself and the things I want to do.  However, we can't just pick and choose from each religion as we see fit. It is obvious that many of the world's religions speak against each other. This one allows this thing, that one condemns it. If I follow this god I live this way, but that god says to live this way is wrong. Realistically, there can be only one religion that is right. If you believe that an entity created the universe then that entity gets to call the shots...all the shots (not just the ones we want to follow). That's how supper was at my house growing up; "I work and make the money, I bought the food and fixed it, you're going to eat it all because you need it to keep you healthy." The designer of an object knows what it needs to run properly. He also knows what will mess it up. That's why there are washing instructions on clothes and manuals for automobiles. The question is, which religion is right? Which manual is the right one?

As you've no doubt learned from my first post, I am a follower of God through his son Jesus. The Bible, consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament, was inspired by God through men across thousands of years. God uses this book to proclaim to the world and to individuals what His will is. Moses recorded God's own words in Exodus 20:3, "Do not have other gods besides me."* Jesus states in John 14:6, "I am the way , the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."* Why would I follow a God who is so exclusive and divisive? Why would you serve a God that doesn't just love everyone? The simple truth is, He's proved Himself to me. I have not just accepted each spoonful of food like a new born baby. I've spit some of it out and examined it. Sometimes because I wanted to understand God better, but most of the time it didn't taste good. The wonderful thing about God and his son Jesus is that they allow us to question and then they give us answers. His Book is not just a list of rules that you must follow or be blasted with lightening bolts. It is a conversation between God and man through which He seeks to make himself known to us.

Now I realize that some of you are not convinced, and I'm okay with that. Turning your life over is not an easy thing to do. What I ask is for you to take a journey with me. Let me share with you who my God is and what He's done for me. All I ask is that you keep an open mind an open heart. Some things might be distasteful at first, don't throw them away. Take a moment and examine them. Ask questions. Find answers.

Blessings to you all.

*All scripture is taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible*