Cafeteria Christianity

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.   For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

     There is a restaurant in many places called “Golden Corral.”  There are perhaps a hundred different things to choose from as you take your plate and begin to pile it high with chicken, pork, beef, seafood, four different kinds of potatoes, and quite and assortment of other prepared vegetables.  I doubt that I ever came even close to picking something from every choice.  I pick and choose what  I want.  You can eat  all you want until you are finally stuffed.  There are also plenty of desserts to choose from and a salad bar that is a meal in itself.

     While we are free to pick and choose what we are going to eat at such a place, it may have become a trend in our brand of Christianity.  People often “pick and choose” what they will do or not do in regards to the Bible.  While it is true that we are not perfect nor are we even close to it, we should be trying to do those things that the Bible teaches us to do.  I have frequently made mention of the thirty-nine different imperative commands in the last three chapters of the Book of Ephesians.  The word structure is such as to indicate that these are not choices on the cafeteria line where you can pick and choose what you want to eat.  No, these are commands that every believer is to obey.  They are what forms the Christian life.  I think that we come to the conclusion that they are all good and important in our lives and someday, we will get around to implementing them in our daily life, only it never happens.  They become only a text that is underlined, or has a star next to it, indicating that it is important.  The above text reminds us from the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, that we are to ome to Him to find rest.  We are exhorted to join Him in the yoke.  Usually a yoke has a space for two animals such as oxen to keep them going in the same direction.  In this example, you join with the Lord Jesus Christ in the yoke and then find that your burden is light and that you find rest in Him.    We are to come to Him, to take on His yoke, and to learn of Him.  We learn of Him through the reading and implementation of the word of God in our lives.  The next time you go to a super “choice” restaurant, remember the Word of God and how you need to do all that is written in it and not just what appeals to you at the moment.  Praise God for all of His Word, even the hard to do parts!