Thursday, May 12, 2005
We have a hummingbird feeder and those busy little guys are fascinating to have as back porch visitors. You've probably seen them. Their wings go so fast you can hardly even see their wings. They're God's original helicopters! They hover, they fly backwards and sideways. I love to watch them, and do they love sugar! My wife mixes up this red liquid that's basically sugar water and they flock to it. Then they'll fly off in this burst of acrobatic energy only to return a few minutes later for a refill. Now, I've been told that if they go very long without some sugar, whether it's the natural kind they get from flowers or from our backyard potion, they become sort of catatonic or maybe "birdatonic." If hummingbirds could talk human talk you'd probably hear them sing as they come back for their 47th consecutive drink, "Must have sugar, must have sugar!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Trouble With Sugar."
You see, God has lots of spiritual hummingbirds in His family. Here comes one now! "Must have sugar!" Spiritual sugar, that is. The kind too many of us Christians depend on to keep us flying.
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 6:47-49 where Jesus describes two different kinds of believers. "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house who digs down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house it collapsed and its destruction was complete." Two believers: one whom the storm cannot shake because his faith is "well built," the other one who falls apart because he's without a foundation and he collapses. What's the difference? What they did with God's Word.
Hearing, studying the Bible, and then doing what you read is the only way to have a storm proof, durable relationship with Jesus Christ. If you're not strong in His Word, you're only going to live like His follower when it's sunny weather. And just when you need to be the closest to Jesus, in the storm, you'll be falling apart!
I guess we could call the Bible God's spiritual protein; the diet that gives you consistent energy and commitment. But a lot of us are hummingbirds - we're addicted to sugar. The major fuel for our relationship with Jesus is spiritual "highs" - "Must have a retreat. Must have a conference. When is the next concert? When is the next great speaker? I need a big feeling! I need a sign from God." For some of God's birds, children - I mean, church is a weekly sugar fix. Where you feel good and feel God for a little while only to return to the same old spiritually catatonic state the rest for the week. But maybe you're getting tired and even disillusioned with that spiritual rollercoaster.
I've often said to young people, "You don't need to get a 'high,' you need to get a life!" That applies to believers of all ages. Aren't you ready for some consistency - some reality? You're ready for a life! Well, then it's graduation time. It's time to step up to the discipline of meeting your Lord one-on-one each new day in His Book: to getting up early enough to get into His Word to anchor that day to a personal word from a living God, not just some fading spiritual "high." You've tried the sugar diet, those bursts of energy followed by the collapse. You're ready for the real food of regular time with Jesus. That's the fuel that will keep you flying all the time.