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Heart-2-Heart
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Pastor Lynda MacDonald, Nova Scotia
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NUTTY
AS A FRUIT CAKE
In our area, we have a saying for
people who seem different or eccentric acting –they are “nutty as a fruit cake”. Fruit cake recipes are always about
ingredients for a special holiday cake. The fruit cake can be dark or light but
it is always filled with fruit like cherries, raisins, apricots and oranges.
Included are various nuts such as walnuts, pecans and almonds. The cake is very
sweet and often sticky to hold but delicious in the mouth.
I would say that most people think I
am “nutty as a fruit cake” because I live a Hebraic Roots lifestyle in my
everyday walk with God. The church doesn’t know what to think of me and most of
my Christian friends feel the same. Even some of my family shakes their heads
at what I share with them.
I don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter
although I love Jesus and am deeply grateful he came and that he died for my
sins. I don’t go to church to worship on Sunday but I love to have Sabbath to
spend time with Him. I love His Word but find it bewildering that other
believers can’t see what I see- “God’s pattern is different than the one the
church has”. I must seem “nutty as a fruit cake” to others.
When I was a kid we had an elderly
neighbor who was weird. One Halloween (yes I once did celebrate it) a small
group of us local kids went out getting treats from the neighborhood houses.
This elderly lady was alone at the time (her son was not home from work yet)
and she was giving out “treats”. I will never forget what we got. Betty Jean
got crackers; I got a can of tomato soup and my brothers got other canned
goods. It was funny! I bet her shelves were empty by the time her son got home
that night. I think she really was “nutty as a fruit cake”.
I think that being “nutty as a fruit
cake” for Yeshua (Jesus) in the spiritual sense is great. I need to be filled
with the “fruit” of the Spirit. Instead of cherries and other fruit I want to
be full of “love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness”. Galatians 5:22
According
to verse 23 “Nothing in the Torah stands against such things”. Now- I am
working on being more like these 7 things but it is a slow process. More like 3
steps forward and 2 steps back but I am moving ahead.
Love
has to be unconditional; joy needs to be inside of me no matter what the
outward circumstances; I need to live daily in peace with “the Prince of
Peace” as my Savior; I must learn to practice patience with others- God
is so patient with me; kindness must be alive in me no matter what
happens; I need to live a “good” lifestyle – being clean inside and out
so that the world sees an honorable representation of a believer and it is
essential that I am a faith builder.
If
this “fruitcake” is seriously striving so that the “fruit of the Spirit” is alive
in me, others might be drawn to test and try what I have. It needs to look and
taste good! And, it needs to be real.
The
“nuts” add flavor and texture. I love nuts! I would sprinkle almonds, pecans,
peanuts or walnuts liberally on a fruitcake. It makes the cake extra special.
As a believer- one who represents Yeshua to a hurting world – I need to be
flavorful and have some meatiness to me. I can’t be phony or double-minded or
without depth. I must be real, sincere and honest. I need people to see that I
have texture (structure). The world can spot a phony but can they be drawn to
someone who really loves and lives for God? I hope so! That is the person I
want to be.
Verse
25 of Galatians 5 reads like this-
“Since
it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit
that we order our lives day by day.”
My Prayer:
“Father,
I confess my own inability to show you through me. Please point out all the
areas where I fail to reflect you.
Where
I fall short of loving, being joyful, spreading peace, being patient, acting in
kindness, walking holy, being faithful, being humble and having self-control,
Heavenly Father, I give you permission to teach me these ways.
Remove
everything that is contrary to your will and make me a vessel that is fit to
carry your message of salvation to a wounded world.
I
need your love and intimacy even though I am so weak in loving you back.
Forgive me my sins although I don’t deserve to have them removed. I thank you
for your Son, Yeshua- “salvation”, who makes this possible”
