Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Christian Fruitcakes

Generally speaking, most people have strong opinions about fruitcake. In the late 1970s, the company I worked for sent fruitcakes to their clients at Christmastime. At the end of the season there were a few left, so I would be given one. I still remember the perfect deliciousness of it — I was in fruitcake heaven! Sadly, a few years later, this particular brand was no longer available. I sampled a lot of dry and awful fruitcakes before I finally found one that came close to Colonial‘s Rainbow Fruitcake. When I visit with friends during the holidays that say they don’t like fruitcake, I always respond, “That’s because you’ve never eaten a good one. I love good fruitcake, but I hate bad fruitcake.”

When King David had the Ark of God brought to Jerusalem, it was a splendid  celebration. David and all the people were praising the Lord with all types of musical instruments, and the king was leaping and dancing before the Lord with all his might.  David blessed the Israelites and, “He distributed to all the people, the entire multitude of Israel, both men and women, one bread cake, one date cake, and one raisin cake to each one. Then all the people left, each to his house” (2 Samuel 6:18-19 MEV). This was the first fruitcake party recorded in the Old Testament. Because this special occasion was celebrated with fruitcakes, maybe that’s why we celebrate the birth of Jesus with fruitcakes. (Thankfully, we do a bunch of other things at Christmas besides eat fruitcake.)

I think Christians and fruitcakes are similar in the fact that some are good and some are bad. Not all fruitcakes are alike. The good fruitcakes get a bad rap because of the bad ones. And not all Christians are alike. Many represent Christ well and some…not so much. Jesus said, “If you know Me, you will know my Father also” (John 14:7 NRSA). Jesus represented His Father excellently. How well do we represent Jesus as we go about our daily lives at home, church, work, and play? Are we doing a good job or a bad job? Believers need to search their heart regularly to see if there’s any bad stuff that needs to be eradicated. We don’t want to be a bad representative of Jesus because that will delude and discourage others from coming to Christ. And it makes us look like a nut.

Being dry is one of the main issues that gives fruitcakes and Christians a bad rating. A dry Christian is often due to a lack of faithful church attendance and neglect of personal Bible study and prayer. A dry fruitcake is simply not worth the effort to chew it. Jesus said, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth!“ (Revelation 3:15-16 NLT).

A Christ follower’s highest priority should be to live a Christ-like life. Onlookers need to see our actions backing up what we say we believe. The people we rub shoulders with need to see evidence of our faith and the fruit of the Spirit working in our lives. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are essential and never go out of style. If we come up short on any of these ingredients, we can go to our merciful God to ask for help. He’s a good God who’s never in short supply. When we’re running low on essentials, God’s mercies to us are new every morning.

The Key: It’s OK to be nutty as a fruitcake as long as it’s a good one.  It’s those bad ones you have to watch out for.

Hubby Dave bought a new gizmo from some promotional ad he saw on his phone.  Actually, against my suggestion of buying one to test it out, he bought four because they were “such a great deal.”  Supposedly we will get 200 more television stations with this device.  Really?  My philosophy is that five stations are too many, but 200?

Hubby was excited to see how his new contraption worked, but quickly he realized that a degree in nuclear science is required to fit all the pieces together.  He decided to wait until his future grandson-in-law (with an electrical engineering degree) showed up to see if he had the answer.  He did.  We now have a plunger-looking antenna suctioned to our front door with a cord draped to the back of the television.

Of course, the Amazon description omitted this one, little detail: the television had to be near a window.  Ours is not.  It is, however, about four feet from the front door.  Thus, the most convenient place to attach the plunger.  Hubby says that I’m making a big deal out of nothing.  Our house is “full of cords.”  You know…cords that plug in the refrigerator, coffee pot, blow dryers, etc. (none of which, however, drape across a room and suction to a window or door).  I reminded him of this.

We live in a world of enticements.  There’s always something faster, smoother, cleaner, prettier, easier, quieter, bigger, or more efficient.  Seldomly do they live up to their hype or reveal the problems that come with them.  We know this, but we take the bait, anyway.  It’s no different with sin.

The first time I read in scripture about Satan tempting Jesus to prove he was God’s son, I wondered why Jesus didn’t just send a bolt of lightning to his enemy’s head.  If you remember the story, Jesus had fasted and prayed for 40 days when the enemy appeared and tried to entice Jesus. (I struggle with four hours, much less, 40 days.)  Satan began with a physical temptation, telling Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus had to be hungry, and the tempter knew right where to target Jesus’ weakness.  Jesus responded that man doesn’t live by bread alone but by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  Satan focused on the physical, but Jesus focused on the spiritual.

Satan’s next attempt was to transport Jesus into Jerusalem and placed Him at the highest point of the temple (roughly the equivalent height of a 41-story skyscraper).  Satan said, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.”  He then quoted Psalm 91:11-12 (“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone”).  Satan used those scriptures out of context because we are not to intentionally put ourselves in danger and expect God to protect us.  Jesus used scripture correctly and quoted Deuteronomy 6:16: “You shall not tempt the LORD your God.”

Satan pulled out his last offer.  He took Jesus to the top of a mountain and “showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (Matthew 4:8).  In other words, Jesus could have everything he wanted for his own personal power and position.  Once again, Jesus turned to scripture: “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matthew 4:10).

The message to us is clear.  We need to know the Bible if we are to ward off temptation.  Trying to take on Satan without scripture’s directive is like ordering television gizmos without checking out the fine print.  Chances are, it will be a lesson we don’t want to learn.