Have you ever had “day-old” bread? For a while it seemed to be a thing of the past and is still in many places. Yet, I was surprised the other day to notice in one of the places where we shop a rack of “day-old bread” and other baked goods. In these racks are placed the loaves of bread that did not sell in a timely fashion and are on the verge of being “stale” and, thus, reduced in price.
At times you can find a bargain on these racks, but often you simply “get what you pay for.” Just last week I saw a loaf of artisan bread on one of the racks – it was baked with fresh rosemary and toasted garlic (two of my favorite ingredients in just about anything). It was enticing, but when I picked the loaf up it was as hard as a rock. Granted, it was “half price,” but a half-priced inedible loaf of bread doesn’t do anyone any good, except for gulls or some other scavenger bird to which you may feed it.
Christianity, folks, is not a “day-old” rack item. Discounted versions or versions passed along from others at reduced potency are just like the loaf of day-old bread – useless and lifeless. Paul told the young evangelist Timothy to “Prove all things.” Many are the men who will simply shop for religion off the bargain rack and think they’ve gotten some great deal. It may look good on the outside, but under closer scrutiny it doesn’t pass the bar of a discerning individual. “Well, mom and dad believed it and that’s good enough for me,” some will say about their stale Christianity. And yet, it is still stale and soon discarded.
Furthermore, just like bread, Christianity can, in a persons life, go through stages of desirableness in the eyes of God. First, fresh out of the oven the zeal is great and the spirit high. Ever have a “fresh out of the oven” piece of bread? It’s soft, warm and tasty. Second, the bread cools, but is still soft and usable. Third, staleness sets in and the bread becomes hard an inedible. As Christians, we must always strive for that “fresh from the oven” Christianity – though it is not always easy. Perhaps if we simply remembered “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness (Lam 3:22), we would have a good start.
