Real Ice Cream

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:2-8 ESV). I like ice dream! There’s no surprise in that statement. However, not all ice cream is made the same. For example, today's commercial ice cream usually substitutes dimethyl glycol instead of eggs, a chemical that is also used in anti-freeze and paint remover. Most of the time, piperonal is substituted for vanilla, but it's also used in larger quantities to kill lice. And then, when you top off that bowl of “homemade vanilla” with strawberry flavor, remember that you are probably ingesting benzyl acetate, a chemical that is used as a solvent for nitrate, one of the main ingredients in fertilizers and cheap explosives. This information shouldn't stop us from eating ice cream or make us want to start boycotting Dairy Queen. Ice cream is fine and wonderful as long as we enjoy it the way it was designed by its creator. But if we just decide that we are hungry for ice cream and start eating anti-freeze and lice medicine, we would probably die (although it might be with a nice clean scalp, and a circulation system that is not affected by cold weather!). We would die because we would be attempting to quench a normal desire for ice cream in a way that was never intended by the designer. Sin can be an awful lot like ice cream. You see, sin takes place when we seek to satisfy a normal hunger in a way never intended by our designer. Lust is just one of those sins when good God given appetites consume us, control us, and become our point of focus. But, whether its sex outside of marriage, or any other sin that calls us away from God’s design, we have a choice and the power to make that choice. James makes that very clear in our reading this morning. In fact he says we are to be happy when we are tested. These are opportunities for growth in our lives. God has even made a provision for the difficult decisions. When we face something we’re not sure about, we have the ability to ask God for wisdom. The promise is that God will give us all we need to understand and choose wisely. The problem for most of us is that we often don’t stop to think about the path we choose. If it says “ice cream” on the carton, we assume it must be the same as all others. Examine your choices before you make them. Most of your heartaches can be prevented by good choices. And, you can know they are good by seeking God’s counsel through Scripture and the wisdom of those who have gone before you. Don’t settle for imitation anything! Get the real thing in Christ!