Trail Mix

Trail Mix

I don’t have a PhD in chemistry, but combining raisins, peanuts, almonds, M&Ms, and dried cherries is a Nobel-prize-worthy formula.

Crunchy, chewy, salty, sweet.  In layman’s terms this utopian blend is simply known as “Trail Mix.”  Rivaled in its class only by the venerable granola bar, you’ll always find a supply in our house and on family trips.  Trail Mix does have one limiting factor for our family, however:  my wife and kids love M&Ms!  Those colorful gems are easy pickings for filching fingers… despite my spirited protests.

It doesn’t end there.  My youngest son has his own specific formula for perfection: two raisins or cherries, one peanut, and one M&M in each bite.  My older son avoids the raisins, almonds and cherries and mumbles, “I always end up with just peanuts because mom already stole all the candy…”

All this shameless sifting soon leaves me holding a bag of “Trail.”  There is no “Mix” anymore.  There’s no chewy and sweet.  The nuts have lost their context.  It’s not right.

Sometimes Christians treat Scripture the same way. They sort through the truths and select only the ones that “taste best” to them.  They pick and choose what commands are most desirable, and push the rest aside.

This partiality not only leads to an imbalanced spiritual walk, but also a weak witness.  Unbelievers love to call out the shortcomings of Christians who selectively follow God’s Word.  In fact, atheists often point to the apparent hypocrisy of Christians as a main reason for turning away from God.

A balance of all biblical truth in our Christian lifestyle is a beautiful thing.  Let’s not change God's formula to suit our own personal preferences.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

- Ron Reid

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