Bacon and Eggs
by Tom Reed
As I am writing this, we are still in the throes of COVID. Vaccine inoculation of the general public is underway, but a return to some type of normalcy is not yet on the horizon. And this includes many of our normal church activities.
I don’t know about everyone else, but in my case, I have found in these last many months of curtailed activity that I have a tendency to get lazy. The fewer requirements for my time in meetings, teaching, Bible study and other gatherings, the less organized and productive I have become. I tend to sink into a minimal output of activity in my available time.
But this long pause in normal busyness has also offered something different that I didn’t expect—an opportunity for me—and I think all of us, to stop and reflect on the “big picture.” In other words, now that many of the distractions of life have been reduced or curtailed because of COVID, we can begin to see the things that are really important.
I would offer that the most important thing in our lives is the commitment to our personal relationship with Jesus. I see this commitment in our own church body played out in the great desire of so many to continue to meet together when possible (Hebrews 10:25) and to stay in communication with each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Where does this commitment originate? From our faith and trust in the Word of God. Isaiah 40:3 says that the grass withers, the flower fades but the Word of God will stand forever. Forever is a big word, but it means what it means—FOREVER. Praise Jesus that our relationship with Him has a future—because it is FOREVER!
I loved what Carisa Wilsie said back in November on Orphan Sunday, that right now we are living in the “not yet.” All of the difficult issues of life that we deal with now will be fixed in the future, but not yet. As Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul’s words remind me of a statement I heard several weeks ago: “There will never be a believer without a past, and there will never be an unbeliever with a future.” Our faith in a forever future with Jesus is the “traction” we need as we journey through this life. And this forever future also fuels our commitment as a church body to the things of God. Meeting together, edifying each other, mission-mindedness—all these things result from a commitment to our personal relationship with Jesus.
I am excited about our promised future, but I am also excited about the present—that so many members of the church body at Council Road are committed to the things of God, not just involved from the “sidelines.”
Which brings me to the point of bacon and eggs. Everyone likes bacon and eggs for breakfast, and it is a pretty standard breakfast with which we are familiar. But if you stop and look at the players in the game, you realize that for bacon and eggs, the pig has to be committed, while the chicken is just involved on the sidelines. That’s serious business for the pig.
Our Christian walk is also serious business. We need to ask ourselves if we are willing to be committed to our personal relationship with Jesus.
Author Bio
Tom was born and raised in Oklahoma. He and his wife, Krista, met in the singles department at First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Tom and Krista joined Council Road in 1995. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. Tom was a geologist with oil and gas firms in Oklahoma City until early retirement. He later accepted a position on the CRBC staff as minister to senior adults for several years until full retirement. Tom is a teacher in his connection class at CRBC and serves on the board of directors of a Christ-centered after-prison care program where he teaches and mentors. Tom and Krista always enjoy opportunities to travel and visit the mountains!