Separately, the ingredients would be distasteful, but together, they are
sumptuous.
Of all the types of cakes my wife cooks, pound cake is my favorite. Hours are
invested in making sure it turns out just right. Various ingredients are blended
together at certain points rather than mixed all together at once.
Eggs, milk, flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, and flavoring are mixed
together. Of all the ingredients, milk is the only one I would consume by
itself. Eggs would have to be cooked, flour and butter would have to be basted,
and sugar and flavoring would have to be added to something else.
Secularism is the attempt to separate government and those who represent it from
religion and religious institutions. We might term it separation of church and
state, but it's actually an attempt to compartmentalize life. King Solomon went
to the other extreme. He worshipped God, but he also worshipped at the local
altars, which means he pandered after the local gods. Many people thought this
was necessary for their crops and families to produce abundantly. Later, Solomon
would even marry unbelieving women from other nations to form political
alliances.
Neither secularism in the present nor King Solomon in the past got it right. The
Bible speaks of separation and conjoining. If I compartmentalize my life, I miss
out on what God wants me to do. I won't be a light shining into a sin darkened
world, but neither will I believe my secular life has any bearing on my worship
of God.
God's overarching purpose is to blend the various ingredients of our lives
together so that we are formed into His Son's image. We are created in the image
of God-an image, albeit, that has been wrecked by sin. Through forgiveness of
our sins and submissiveness on our part to His plan, He blends the religious and
secular ingredients of our lives together to make us little Christ's. While we
don't melt into or become Christ-as butter does into the other cake ingredients,
we should become like Him in word, action, and thought.
Have you been guilty of trying to separate the secular and religious ingredients
of your life? Blend them together so you can produce a tasteful lifestyle that
will impact others for Christ.
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