Jesus, Pop-Tarts, and foolishness

During the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college I interned at a church down in Louisiana.  I stayed there with the music minister and his family.  They had 5 kids total.  As you can imagine a family that size was always running out the door in the mornings.  Many mornings the kids would be grabbing their breakfast while running out the door.

Here's a little tidbit of info about me, my favorite pop tarts are the strawberry with no frosting.   Onemorning I had bought some and I popped them into the toaster.  Their oldest looked at me with a look of disgust and bewilderment while exclaiming, "What are you doing?!?"  "Getting my pop tart out of the toaster", I said.  To which he replied "That's the dumbest thing I've ever see in my entire life!"

When I really started to think about it he had never had a pop-tart from the toaster.  He was always getting his while running out the door.   Why would he take time to heat it up when pop-tarts when their purpose is to be eaten while running out the door.

1st Corinthians 1:18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction!  But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

To those who don't follow Jesus Christ our faith seems foolish.  We're to forgive others when we have every right to get revenge or hold a drudge.  When people are in need we rally to help them even if it's at the expense of our own comfort.  We count others as more significant than ourselves while we're in a culture where the messaged is it's all about me.

After I explained to him why I loved my pop-tarts from the toaster he decided to give it a try the next morning.  Interestingly enough my dumbest idea ever won him over and he put his pop-tarts in the toaster from then on.  Just like how that pop-tart wasn't complete without a toaster the world needs to discover that their lives are not complete without Jesus.  As believers we know that for a fact because we have experienced it.

Now, Jesus is eternally more significant than pop-tarts.  His message far more life changing than putting a pastry in a toaster.  Let's remember that today.  Let's remember the death that makes life complete.  Let's remember the One who willingly laid his life down on the cross for our sins to reconcile us to God.  Take some time to pause and reflect on the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ