I won't quickly forget the first time I came across "bath bombs".
Our family was in a store when a round powdery ball grabbed my curiosity. I picked it up and smelled it. It smelled like the ocean. Nice. But I didn't know what it was for, so I wasn't really interested in buying it. That is until I saw the tag that said "Bath Bomb". Now, I wasn't sure what that meant, but all I could imagine was a huge water EXPLOSION with ocean-smelling bubbles everywhere. Visions of standing in waves of foam and bubbles filled my mind. It sounded like huge mess and I wasn't sure why this was something that someone would invent, but I definitely wanted to see that. So I paid the $4 and we all giddily ran to the bathroom when we got home to see the awesome results.
We had a stack of towels for the overflowing bubbles and water, and cautiously tossed the ball into the water waiting expectantly for an explosion. But there was no explosion. Nope. We stood there and stared at the ball in the water just fizzing away quietly, barely making any bubbles at all. We looked at each other... the humor of our disappointment filled the room.
How could this little bit of fizzing be the results of something called a "bath bomb"? I expected something awesome. I expected huge amounts of bubbles or foam that would be filling the tub and running out onto floors and walls. I expected a mini replication of a bomb creating water explosions. This was not that. This was just some "fizz-fizz". We laughed as we walked out of the bathroom thinking about our expectations vs. the reality of it. Since then, when I come across things that don't really live up to my expectation of the advertisement, I still think "fizz-fizz."
Bath Bombs & Christians
In a previous post, I wrote about the fact that Adoption Changes Everything. Among the many things that change is your name. You have a new identity. Your new identity reflects your new family. As Christians, we have been adopted by God. Our name reflects that. Our new identity is pretty epic. It packs a punch. It's the name of the Holy God. There are certain expectations that come with it.
Peter writes: "Obey God because you are His children. Don't slip back into your old ways doing evil things; you didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God - who chose you to be His children - is holy. For He Himself has said, 'You must be holy because I am holy'"(1 Peter 1:14-16)
We can't just wear an awesome sounding label and fizzle about life. When God gave us His name - He actually expects us to be like Him so when people hear and see us they can hear and see a little picture of Him. He doesn't want fizz-fizz. He wants us to be the real thing...to be imitators of Him. His adoption of us, our new identity is a game changer.
We obey God - Because we are His.
We know better than to do evil things - Because we are His.
We are holy - Because we are His.
The name Christian isn't just a label trying to sell something. It's who we are at our very core.
But on our own, we are not actually capable of doing this and living this out.
No matter how much water we poured into the tub or how many other bath bombs we stuck in there with it, that bath bomb was never going to make the explosion of bubbles that we expected. It was not made to do that. It could only do the bit of fizzle that it had in it. It would've needed something else in there to make what we were expecting.
On our own we are not capable of living the Christian life. No matter what good environment we put ourselves in, or good friends we surround ourselves with... we don't have it within ourselves to do what Peter says we are supposed to do. No matter how much we muster within ourselves, it's not enough. We need something else in us to be all that we are called to be. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. God identifies us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). And the Holy Spirit enables us to live a life worthy of our new name. God literally gives us Himself to replicate Himself. It's not us faking it until we make it. It's Him in us.
Because we are His, we are the real deal.
Let us follow His lead.
"So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves...But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control..."
Galatians 5:16;22