A few weeks back in Soroti, Uganda,
I preached the craziest idea concerning the Holy Trinity. I enjoy when God
gives me absurd illustrations to better understand my religion and faith. Hope
you like it as well.
Have you ever compared Jesus to
bread? Probably. Have you ever considered the Holy Spirit to be similar to jelly?
Maybe if you recall Galatians 5:22.
“But
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no
law.”
And for the stretch, have you ever
thought of God as peanut butter? Most likely never. As I was preparing for the
right message to give, the image of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich came to
mind. I had been reading so many passages pertaining to “the Bread of Life” so
I thought I’d run with it.
The message itself was entitled
“Once saved, Always saved.” Mainly geared towards those misunderstanding what salvation
and turning away from Christ means, commonly seen in African culture, but it
also had a humorous outlook on the Trinity I enjoyed reading/writing about.
Let’s start with the fun stuff.
How is Jesus compared to bread? Well, John
6:35 makes it quite obvious. “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will
never go hungry. And he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” This one was
a little easy and straight forward.
-Also, refer to Matthew 4:4, and
Matthew 6:11 and consider the miracles performed by Jesus using bread. Not to
mention the bread used during the Last Supper to signify them taking his body.
I mentioned before how we can
relate the Holy Spirit to jelly from Galatians. Another is found in 1
Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God?…” This one refers to a
general food source but we’ll consider it jelly for this illustration.
The fun begins with peanut butter.
To relate God with Peter Pan or Jif you have to keep your mind open a bit. The
passages I found to make this connection made me laugh a good deal. Once the
jelly and peanut butter are spread over the bread and placed together they form
a sandwich. Separately, they all have great differences, but together they
create a new something. They are now as one. “I and the Father are one.” – John
10:30
Now for a real knee-slapper. To get
to the peanut butter and the jelly you must take a bite from the outside in.
Bread first. Jesus first.
“I
am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.” – John 14:6
God has such a sense of humor.
So consider this simple thought, if
you bite into this PB&J sandwich, you now have the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit inside you. You’ve accepted. One bite is all it takes to be
saved. Now we need to understand what
salvation is and how it is binding. Scripture directly gives, no hidden
messages, the way to eternal life (Romans 10:9, John 10:9, Joel 2:32, and John
3:16). When we accept Jesus in our heart, we no longer live empty and alone. Our
stomachs have something in them now because we’ve taken a bite. He is always
there. He never leaves. We are the ones who leave and turn our eyes from His
path. And it is ok. By God’s grace we are still loved. When we find ourselves
facing the opposite direction from God, we need to ask for forgiveness and
repent.
(Scriptures for: Repenting:
Jeremiah 15:19, Luke 15:10, Luke 17:3, Forgiveness: Colossians 2:13, Matthew
6:14, 1 John 1:9, and Grace: Ephesians 2:45, Romans 5:20, Isaiah 30:18, and
Titus 2:11-14)
Why do we eat anything? To be
sustained. To live. Just as our bodies need nutrients to survive, our souls
need Christ. Have you heard before “I couldn’t have done it without God.” Well,
their telling the truth. Honestly, that statement could be/should be said at
the end of everyday and not just the end of a stuggle or obstacle. Attempt to
see your spiritual feeding as a meal you can’t refuse to pass from now on. Have
you ever wanted a piece of cake or cookies for breakfast after so much was
leftover from a birthday the day before? Consider your birthday dessert
breakfast the way to start every morning. Reading the Word, talking to God,
listening to God. Consider Christ a necessity and not a burden. A delicious
holiday feast and not a quick One-a-day vitamin.
A picnic peanut butter and jelly
sandwich.
