Mixed Drinks

Webster’s Dictionary defines, mix, as ‘to unite or blend into one mass.’ Mix up, is defined ‘to confuse.’ Simply put, mix is, puttin two things together. Now I’ve never tasted a mixed drink but I have been known to order my water on the rocks. Mixing is a funny thing, it can enhance a substance or it can create a mess. For instance, when it comes to a casserole or a bowl of soup, the more vegetables and meats the merrier. Also with medicine, just the right amount of chemicals and elements could save your life. Then again if you mix Cool-Aid and new carpet, you have a life threatening mess. When you mix, hot sauce and Mexican your stomach is in a mess. So then, “to mix or not to mix, that is the question.”

It’s interesting that Nestlé bottles water called, “Pure Life.” That’s funny I thought pure life only came through Jesus Christ, but you can purchase it, for like a dollar at any Seven-Eleven along with your lottery ticket. Now that 16oz bottle of “Pure Life” water is pure and clean, good for drinking, but if you were to mix in just a pinch of dirt, that whole bottle of water would be no good to you because it wouldn’t be ‘pure’ anymore. Even though there is 16oz of pure water, it only takes a pinch of dirt to contaminate the whole thing.

When Jesus in John 13, was washing His disciple’s feet and Peter objected, Christ told Him this had to be done if Peter was to have a part with Him. Peter then proclaimed wash all of me and Jesus told him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet…” As Christians we have been bathed in the blood of Jesus, we are clean. Yet there are times (these times are quite frequent for me) when we need to have Jesus wash our feet. This is because we have been mixing our ‘pure life’ with a dirty world. This is actually a very serious problem and one that the church has lost focus of. Another word for mix is compromise. Jesus calls us to be in the world but not of it. We as light are to have no dealings with darkness. God is very clear that we are to keep away from evil and the trash of the world, yet we find that Christians are way to quick to build their house on top of a trash heap. I have been convicted about the amount of dirt I’ve allowed to mix in with my pure life. The movies I watch, though they’re not ‘bad,’ are still full of sin. The jokes I tell, though not ‘trashy,’ are still not pure. Why is it that sin can look so benign until we see it on the cross? It looks entertaining until we see Jesus’ blood flowing. It looks tasty until we are spewed from God’s mouth. It looks easy until we find our self addicted to it. It’s time we stopped compromising in the name of entertainment. It’s time we stop mixing our pure life with sin just because we need a rush. No wonder so many of us don’t know what God wants for us, we are to busy getting ‘mixed up’ with dirt. Confusion is not of God, darkness is not of God, sin is not of God, and a lot of my entertainment and life style is not of God. I need my feet washed. How about you? Is it time we wake up and stop trying to unite our pure life with our filthy lifestyle.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

So what is life really all about?

Around three years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Retoca, Honduras. Retoca is a small village way off the beaten path. The people are amazing and the children will steal your heart. One day as the group was walking around the cobble stone streets of the village, I notice I little girl that I hadn't notice in the past couple days. We had accumulated quite a following of little children, each one could take you to your knees simply by smiling. But this little girl was different. There was something special about her, something that drew me to her.
Now my Spanish is very broken but I did manage to bribe her friendship, with a puppet. Next thing I know, our group is off on a Honduran adventure to a nearby river to go swimming, but the greatest thing of all was as I walked down the streets this little girl ran up and grabbed my hand. We walked to the outskirts of the village and as we took the well beaten path through the golden fields of the country side, I noticed a very large amount of trash. Honduras is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the earth but this little corner of it was the trash heap. As I walked hand in hand with my new found friend, she stopped walking. I looked back to see what was going on. She said something, that I didn't understand, as she was pointing at her foot. The bottom of her foot was covered with dirt except for a trail of blood which was leading to a small knick on the ball of her foot. Evidentially she was against walking through the trash heap with an open wound, I don't know why. I bent down and picked up this beautiful little girl.
She had on a faded pink shirt and her unwashed hair was put up in short pigtails. As I held her in my arms she put her arm around my neck and held on tight. There was a distinct smell coming from her to let me know that she had not been taught proper hygiene yet. This didn't concern me at all so l I began flying her around and swinging one way and then the other. It's times like this that God begins pricking your heart strings and telling you that something great is about to happen.
We walked about a mile to the river. The whole time the boys would run ahead and then run back, showing off by turning flips, the girls would skip along and play with each other. Just about the time the river came into sight, some of the boys ran over to me and began telling me something controversial. Now I didn't understand a word of it but I knew it was controversial because the little girl in my arms began swatting at the boys in protest. I began to chuckle thinking this was some harmless picking but then the boys began using their hands to let me know that my precious friend had used the bathroom in her pants. The little girl obviously embarrassed and the boys thinking very highly of themselves caught me in a very teachable moment. This lesson wasn't so much for my little friend or for these rambunctious boys but it was for a very unworthy child of God.
At that moment I was so overtaken by love for this little girl that I didn't care what she had done or what mess she had on her. I began to embrace her with all my heart. Still to this day I can feel her arm reaching around my neck and gently squeezing me back. She then turned to the boys and smiled as to say, I told you so. They then ran off to the river and jumped in but I was left back on the trail still holding a precious girl in my arms and knowing exactly what God was say to me. "I love you and it doesn't matter what you've done or how bad you think you are. I will hold you in my arms and I will stand up for you. No one will be able to touch you. Simply rest in Me." From that day on I've looked at life differently. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 I'm so unworthy of anything good from God but that is what makes it grace. That's what makes it a gift.
I never learned that little girls name but she taught me more about life, love, and God than anyone else. Where ever she is and whatever she is doing, I pray that God would keep her and hold her. Lavishly pouring His love on her.
"Lord, may it be as to You!"