V8 juice brings back a couple childhood memories. First, for a little background... I'm not fond of processed tomato/veggie products in general - especially cold and in drink form. I did, however, like most children, love my mommy. I also thought my mom enjoyed flowers. When I was probably around 5 years old, I just happened to find some beautiful flowers in our neighborhood that I just knew my mom would enjoy. I picked them carefully, so proud of my find... imagining how much joy they would bring my mom and the rest of the family as they were displayed beautifully in a glass vase on our kitchen table. I brought them through the kitchen door to be met with a look of shock from my mom. This wasn't exactly the look I had been expecting. She asked in surprise, "Where did you get these?!" I probably said something to the effect of "over there" - pointing to our neighbor's front yard. The Geigers were our elderly neighbors. They seemed ancient to me, but they were probably only about 60 or so. Their house was always neat as a pin, inside and out, and their front yard was landscaped with some lovely tulips. Keyword here being "was". I was right that my mom did love the flowers I brought her, but it turned out that she would have preferred to admire them in the ground in front of the Geigers' house instead of in a vase on our table. I remember my mom explaining to me that they were planted there by the Geigers on purpose, and that they weren't meant to be picked. They were for yard decoration purposes. She further explained that I had technically stolen the tulips (a scary word to a youngster), and that I needed to take them back over to the Geigers and explain why I had taken them.
I don't remember how long it took me to get up the courage to go over to the Geigers' house, but I know it was the same day. I timidly knocked on their door, and they invited me to come into their home. They had me sit down at the table, and I explained what had happened with the tulips. They smiled warmly and offered me the usual... some cookies (the kind that come in the round, blue tin with the paper circle in between the layers of cookies) and some juice or water. After a few visits to their house, a kid learned never to say "yes" to juice at the Geigers house. For, alas, it was always V8 juice. My grandparents always had apple cherry berry juice or this other juice called "Kool-Aid". They told me their grandchildren didn't come to visit very often, and, after finding their selection of grandparent beverages wanting, I didn't wonder why. As an adult, I can imagine now that, after the first time that glass of V8 juice sat there at the end of our visit having had only one sip taken out of it, she was telling me that the reason they didn't have much for juice flavors was because they didn't have children visit very often. As a kid I just thought, "Yeah, no wonder those kids don't want to come over." In a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" sort of way, I had assumed that the V8 juice had precipitated the lack of grandchild visits, not the other way around. Anyway, the tulip theft was forgiven in a flash. The Geigers were always wonderful and gracious to our family.
It made me think though about all those foods that "go down easy". They aren't the foods that will make my body healthy and my bones stronger. The foods my flesh inevitably craves are the ones that aren't as good for me. Sure, I love a nice piece of broccoli, some carrots, apple slices, and many other naturally-derived foods. But I'm not likely to "overindulge" on them - as if that were even possible. Overindulge on polish sausage and double cheese pizza, and you're looking down the barrel of a triple bi-pass. Overindulge on broccoli and apple slices, and the worse thing you'll get is an extra couple trips to the bathroom the next day. Now, I am certain that there are people who have developed a deep love for carrots, tofu, plain yogurt, and getting up before dawn to run 10 miles. Some would call them masochists, but I just think of them as the standard people... the ones who give those of us who just try hope for the possibility that it is indeed possible to make it to that level. I don't believe they just get there by sudden revelation though. They get there through years of sacrifice... making themselves eat a diet of healthy foods and exercise... until they no longer crave junk food and rest to the point of overindulgence.
Our tendency though, rather than to sacrifice, is to try to manipulate our foods into something with less calories by adding artificial ingredients. Do these make me healthier? Certainly not. Am I better off drinking a zero calorie diet pop instead of a 150 calorie loaded one? The scale may say so, but it isn't telling the whole truth. The chemical manipulation is not good for my health in general. Diet pop is just the beginning of trying the "have my cake and eat it too" attitude that ends in the manipulation of food to try to make it more diet friendly.
It's the same in other aspects of our lives. The things that "go down easy" when I'm sitting on a church bench or listening to the radio or reading a book or blog aren't the things that are going to change my life for the better or grow me in an area of immaturity. In fact, if my flesh likes it, it's almost certainly junk food. In effort to make myself feel better, I tend toward surrounding myself with people who are like-minded... spiritually speaking. I want to surround myself with teachers, mentors, and friends who believe what I think is right - thoroughly avoiding and dismissing any opposing truth.
II Timothy 4:2-4 clearly states, "2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. In other words, we will try to manipulate our surroundings in order that we don't have to "feel the burn" of conviction or give ourselves a spiritual workout. We will feel better in a bubble of pride, and we will know we are certainly right, because everyone who surrounds us agrees with us. Scripture clearly states that its purpose is for correcting, rebuking, encouraging, training, and instructing (2 Tim 3:16 and 4:2). However, few of us really want to be rebuked and corrected, or even trained or instructed. We don't want to feel the burn. Our ears "itch" for things that make us feel good about ourselves. So we take our spiritual placebo - our diet discipleship and feel good about making the effort - even though, like my Coke Zero, it might actually be contributing to our own demise.
Hey, when I'm in good shape (which isn't all that often anymore), I like a good workout. It's refreshing and helpful. However, when I'm out of shape, a good workout is still good, but it's not something I want. It's taxing, and it leaves my muscles sore. It's something I avoid. Spiritual life is the same way. The more I go without it, the more comfortable I am living in that void. It becomes an acceptable way of life.
There are people who actually enjoy sermons, worship time, and Bible studies... the standard people again. They didn't get there overnight anymore than a Mr. Universe contestant gets on stage by sitting in a bean bag chair eating Cheetos, but they certainly didn't get there by feeling comfortable where they were. People who enjoy the spirit life don't get there by balking at conviction and spurning correction and rebuke.
I am thankful, at this point in my life, to have a few good friends. I know they are true friends to me, and I can tell by one hallmark: they tell me the truth - even when it hurts. They tell me when I'm wrong. They tell me when I'm out of line. They tell me when I'm missing the mark. They use Scripture to do it. Do I think they are preaching at me from a self-righteous soapbox? No. I know they are acting on my behalf... to help me out of sin - whether it be anger, self-pity, gossip, pride, etc. Could they be acting in pride? Maybe, but that is for God to know and correct, and it certainly doesn't mean God can't use their scriptural rebuke to produce a right spirit in me. Proverbs 27:5-6 says, "Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy." One of my greatest joys at this point in my life is that God has blessed me with friends who leave faithful wounds, and I pray for a heart that yearns for truth and a spirit that desires conviction - so that I can be all of that for which I was created.
I may never enjoy a nice glass of V8, but I can hold out hope that I will enjoy feeling a heavenly "burn".
