Bubble Gum
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew 5:13
Every time I go into Meganom or Ashan, I see a variety of gumball machines. Kids love gumball machines. We have 5 children, and they were always asking for a coin to put into those beautiful enticing machines to get gum. We had a rule at home, “No chewing gum inside.” I can’t even remember how many times I had to get gum out of our daughter’s hair. I tried ice, peanut butter, and even vegetable oil -- and sometimes ended up using scissors. It was a sticky MESS! Getting gum out of kids’ hair (or even the dog’s coat) was always hard. Then there was the gum on the floor or carpet. Yep, no gum inside there OR at church!
However, chewing gum can also be quite entertaining. It is tasty and has an appeal - especially for children. When I am tired, a stick of gum helps me not to yawn. If I need a quick boost for my breathe, the minty taste will refresh it. Chewing gum after you eat will help clean your teeth (especially since you don’t carry tooth-brushes with you in your purse). I started thinking about the properties of chewing gum of all things. Even though it is sticky and messy and I think we can learn some lessons from it.
1. Don't Get Stuck. Gal 6:9: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
I remember one day I walked into our living room and there was this huge glob of pink bubblegum stuck in our new carpet. Of course when I asked the children, all five children said “I don’t know!” or “It wasn’t me!” I think we had an invisible #6 child that seemed to get all the blame. So, we made all five of them work on it until it was gone. They picked at it until the carpet almost had a hole in it.
Sometimes we get stuck in our spiritual walk. It seems we are stuck in a rut. Yes, we attend church and read our Bibles but we don’t seem to be growing spiritually - we feel blah so to speak. Just like the children picking at the gum on the carpet, we must be consistent. We must be diligent until we become unstuck. The Word of God has promised us that if we just stay faithful, if we just stay obedient, if we will serve Him, He will bless.
We need to look around and see what is getting us stuck. Is there something holding us back in our walk with the Lord? ____ Is there unconfessed sin? ____ Is there something we haven't been obedient about? ____ Is it our attitude that needs adjusting? ____
Stuck people see no fruit from their labor and the temptation to return to a previous way of life will be powerful. When you realize you are stuck, don’t quit (as our verse tells us). Just keep on keeping on. Be faithful (Heb. 10:23), actively pray (1 Thess. 5:17) and seek God's face (Deut. 4:29). You can't stay stuck or you will not accomplish anything for Christ.
When I'm stuck, I find that if I start looking outward and meeting the needs of others it helps tremendously in prying me loose. Be encouraged. Your efforts are making a difference. Don’t quit.
2. Don't Lose Your Flavor. 2 Cor. 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
When we first moved here, our kids complained that most of the gum they bought only tasted sweet for just a few seconds. It lost its flavor rather quickly. One young lady at our church used to ask us to bring her “Big Red” chewing gum back from America. It tasted like cinnamon and it lasted a long time!
We need to make lasting impressions. Imagine the footprints you would leave behind from walking through a freshly poured concrete sidewalk. Now, imagine your children and grandchildren as wet cement; what footprints will you leave in their lives? Eph. 4:1-3 talks about living a life worthy of His calling. When Jesus saved us, he didn’t just save us for heaven. He saved us to live for him, and to do works in his name. Think of all the women Bible characters that have made lasting impressions: Ruth, Esther, Deborah, Lydia ______________________________________… little did they know the impact they would have for women through the ages.
How about you? Do you feel like life has chewed you up and you seem to have lost your desire to serve the Lord? Infuse some flavor into your life by getting back to walking and talking with the One who can sustain you. Read your Bible more. Pray more. Draw closer to the Lord and allow Him to encourage you and breathe new life into you.
3. Don't be Distracting. Luke 10:24 “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things”
One time in school, our teacher told us if we could chew gum and didn’t look like a cow, we could chew gum in class. Well, every kid tried but nobody passed the test. Gum in someone's mouth can be the most distracting thing when they are talking with you. It throws us off focus.
Martha was distracted - her focus had been on service. What was Mary’s focus? Being near Jesus and listening to Him speak. Martha’s focus had been practical while Mary’s was more spiritual. However, Martha’s focus was not entirely bad as service is needed - but there is a time that our focus should be on spiritual. Jesus knew this, so when Martha confronted Him in exasperation, He paid attention to her. He heard her words, but more than that He redirected her focus: “But one thing is needful….” (Luke 10:42). The one thing she needed was Him.
Today the distractions are so much more different than before. Cell phones and computers have sidetracked many today. Sometimes I think that Satan invented cell phones to distract us from what God would have for us. It is so distracting to try and carry on a conversation with someone who can’t seem to take their eyes off their phone. I've see people in church play with their phones instead of listening to the word of God being preached.
Distractions are everywhere, tugging on our arms, filling our eyes and tickling our ears -- anything to try and lure our hearts and minds off the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus told His followers that spiritual distraction begins with hearts that have grown dull, ears that are hard of hearing, and eyes that are closed (Matt. 13:15). Using the illustration of a farmer scattering seed, Jesus compared the seed that fell among thorns to a person who hears God’s Word but
4. Don't play with it. 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times I told my children to stop playing with their gum, “Keep it in your mouth.” Playing with gum is usually the culprit of many accidents. We love to play games, it is part of the playful spirit God has given each and every one of us. But sometimes, when it comes to our relationship with God, the games we play don’t bring us joy and laughter.
The true church of Jesus Christ is not a religious institution which welcomes everybody, it is the body of Jesus Christ that is set apart (holy) unto God. We are the bride of Christ and we have been redeemed by faith. It is our DUTY as Christians to warn those who have not received Christ, to warn them in love but to warn them nonetheless how they are in danger of the terror of the Lord. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:11, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." The Apostle says that when he stops to think about the coming of the judgment of God, he get busy sharing the gospel. This was the command of Christ; and this is our responsibility!
Read Luke 6:46. It is a warning to those who are comfortably seated in the church or who think they are -- but in reality they are not. This is not a warning to outside people. This is a warning to us who are involved in the church to be sure that it's real. And I think it only fair that we stop and really approach this with a sense of sobriety and earnestness, to understand how we stand in view of God right now as individuals.
The following verse is carved on an old marble slab in a cathedral of Lubeck, Germany. It dates back to the 1400’s (800 years ago) and it goes like this,
“Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:
You call Me Master and obey Me not,
You call Me light and see Me not,
You call Me the way and walk Me not,
You call Me life and live Me not,
You call Me wise and follow Me not,
You call Me fair and love Me not,
You call Me rich and ask Me not,
You call Me eternal and seek Me not,
You call Me gracious and trust Me not,
You call Me noble and serve Me not,
You call Me mighty and honor Me not,
You call Me just and do not accept My justice.
If I condemn thee, blame Me not."
Obedience is what service is about. Calling Christ “Lord” or anything else is not enough, it is doing the will of God that is the answer.
5. Don't Pop! 2 Cor. 4:16-18 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, an which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Have you ever been going along in your walk with the Lord and everything seems to be going smoothly. Then all of a sudden someone or something hits you like a ton of bricks? You got that dreaded phone call. Or you hear that someone has talked badly about you. Just like my children would love to pop their sibling’s bubble when they least expected it, your bubble pops. It seems like all the air in you escapes.
This verse tell us that we should “faint not”. The Greek word here means “to be weary in heart” or “to lose courage”. In verse 1, Paul says he faints not! The idea is perseverance -- being persistence throughout the Christian life. Like a runner lasting to the end of the race, the Christian is to keep going and keep trusting Jesus. We can get so easily distracted by the things that Satan hurls at as, that we sometimes fail to see the bigger picture of eternity. There are three steps that these verse give to help us.
A. We are being renewed. The first reason to not lose heart is shown through a comparison between the outward man and the inward man. The outward man (the old man) belongs to this world, that is riddled by sin and is slowing dying. The inward man (the new man) belongs to the world to come, is being made more and more like Jesus -- she is being renewed.
Every day, we are becoming more like Jesus. Often, we often focus on external things: appearance; beauty; bettering ourselves. But in itself, this is futile. We are focusing on the wrong things! Don’t pop - Jesus is renewing us.
B. We will obtain glory. The second reason to not faint is shown through a comparison between the troubles we face (light, affliction, moment) and the glory to come (glory, weight, eternal). Paul compares the trials of life to the glories of heaven! What is the glory? It's the beauty, wonder, magnificence and splendor of God. And we get to share in that! We must get through the hard stuff but keep going. Don't lose heart - know that something better, infinitely better is coming!
C. We will live forever. The third reason to not to deflate is shown through a comparison between what is temporary and what is eternal. Remember the things we see here and now will not last: Pain, troubles, sorrow, grief, hobbies, earthly riches. These things are temporary. To focus all our attention on these things is to fail to see big picture! We need to learn to keep our eyes on eternal values: What are some of these? ________ ______________________________________________________
We can't allow other people or circumstances to pop our bubbles. We have to just keep on doing what we know is right and serving the Lord to the best of our ability.
Conclusion: I hope we can avoid some of the traps of being gummed up in life. I don't want someone to look under a desk someday and find me in a wad, dried out, and stuck fast. I know I need to start by drawing closer to the Lord. I have to pray more and stay in His Word more.
I want my life to count for the Lord. I want to make a difference. In order to do that I have to remember that the Christian life is all about being that salt and light of the earth.
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