The Main Thing

What good would it be to fix a special dish and leave out the main ingredient – such as a macaroni and cheese casserole without the cheese? Suppose you order a delicious steak with all the fixings. The waitress brings you a plate with a nice baked potato, a salad and some very good garlic bread, but no steak. Would you be satisfied with your meal? Many of you know I love ice cream. If I ordered a vanilla Sundae with caramel and nuts and received a dish with only the toppings, I definitely wouldn’t be a happy camper!

Or let’s leave the area of food. A friend invites you to go deep sea fishing. You arrive at the dock and everything is ready, so out you ride several miles to find the fish. With a high tech locator you are successful and then your host says, “Oops, forgot to bring the fishing poles.” You’d probably consider tying a line to him and using him as bait!

We could pick a lot of examples. (I started to include women going to a sale who leave their purses behind. Then I realized most women I know wouldn’t let a little thing like that stop them). The point is – it’s senseless to leave out the main element in a recipe or activity.

And yet, how often do we let this happen in our faith walk? We can easily go through the motions of faith, and leave Christ out. We can attend church, participate in a Sunday School class, do mission projects, serve with our time and talents, study the Bible, and even partake of the sacraments without cultivating a relationship with the Savior. Like the illustrations given above, all those are good things, but what’s the point without the main ingredient?

If you’re one of those just living off the fixings or toppings, you are missing so much. If you’ve gotten too busy, or too self-sufficient, or even too important to keep your relationship with Christ alive and growing, then you’re probably headed toward emptiness, if you don’t already feel it inside. As challenging as it is to live an authentic Christian life, it’s simply impossible if you don’t keep the main ingredient the main thing.

Maybe it is time for a fresh start for all of us, a time to keep the main One the main thing.