Becoming a Goldfish

Strange things are happening to me. After years of hating goldfish crackers and applesauce, I find myself eating both on a regular basis. It all began when Noah (my little boy) became a picky eater and we were looking for easy things to feed him that traveled well. All the books say that you must introduce a new food to a baby a total of seven times to get him or her to eat it. Well, I don’t know how it works for babies (we’re still working on Noah’s eating habits), but apparently it worked on me.



What does this have to do with Jesus? Well, in a very real sense we are what we experience. The things we pack into our lives are the things we wind up feeling comfortable around. Making a life of faith feel right has more to do with living in it a while than having a natural liking for “spiritual stuff.” People may say, “Yeah, I tried the Jesus thing, and it just isn’t for me.” But did they really give it a genuine chance? It’s not enough to go to church once in your life to see if it’s for you. In many ways it’s like planting seeds; we must allow time for them to bring forth fruit. The same is true for anything in life. One can just as easily begin to feel “at home” in dangerous activities (or at least not good for you stuff) by spending time around un-Godly influences.



Scripture says this: “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:20). Things of God are going to produce good fruit, i.e “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). If your life is not producing these things, take a look at how you are spending your time. Your life will produce exactly what you are cultivating in it. If the produce is not what you want it to be, begin to make changes. I promise that if you get invested in a Jesus-centered community of faith, you will begin to see peace and joy like you’ve never seen. If you don’t know where to start, then look for a person whose life demonstrates the qualities you want in yours, and hang out with them. Just don’t give up. Eventually you will find that you will even enjoy being a part of a group of people who love Jesus. Besides, if I can start loving goldfish crackers, anything is possible.



Hope the rest of your week is fabulous!



Blessings,

Sami