Take the Bacon Out of the Wrapper

24 Jan Take the Bacon Out of the Wrapper

Read Psalm 9
Thought for the Day: Trust God!

Half measures avail us nothing! Imagine waking up on a Saturday morning with a craving for bacon and eggs. After you head down to the kitchen, you grab a pan, place it on the stove, and let it begin to heat. You grab two eggs and a package of bacon and place these next to the burner. But then you remember that the last time you cooked bacon, you did it wrong, it filled your kitchen with smoke, and your fire alarm went off. It was a bad experience. With this in mind, you cook the eggs but put the bacon back in the fridge. In the end, what do you have? Not bacon and eggs but two fried eggs. Rather than experiencing all that breakfast could be, you played it safe and chose a half measure.

King David knew a lot about half measures. As he wrote a song expressing his thankfulness to God, David declared, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart”. Consider what it means to be all-in and do something with a whole heart. Rather than clinging to anxiety about what might happen, living whole-heartedly is allowing for some healthy risk. When we trust God with our whole hearts, we acknowledge that He is in control. David had moments when he trusted God with his whole heart (like defeating Goliath with a slingshot) but also had moments when he didn’t (like arranging to have Uriah killed so he could justify an affair). In his encounter with Goliath, David knew there was a chance Goliath could flatten him – but he trusted that God would prevail. In his encounter with Uriah, he tried to control the situation but had to repent, and finally trusted that God.

Many times, we fail to live with whole hearts and instead turn to half measures. We mistakenly believe we can hold on and control things. This is like leaving bacon in the wrapper out of fear of what might happen. At these times, let’s learn to be more like the little boy who knew he could lose to Goliath but trusted that God would prevail. Let’s learn to live with whole hearts. In this New Year, let’s see that God is calling each of us to let go and trust Him. While half measures avail us nothing, living out our faith has amazing results. Today, let’s take the bacon out of the wrapper and see what God has in store!

In Christ,
Pastors Stan and David