Be Ye Separate

I wanna be a Christian Pickle!

Blessings Brothers and Sisters, in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

   I pray this finds you well.

   I have been pondering, of late, the need to be pickled:) (It's not what you think):)

   Ever since I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour I have struggled with trying to learn all that I can about being what God has created me to be. I have discovered many things over these last 12 years and this is just another of those conclusions I have come to in my search for His good and perfect will.

   We've all heard the scripture...Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

   I have pondered many aspects of this particular scripture and have learned so much about who I am and what I need to do. Well, maybe not ALL I need to do but I'm still learning that too:) I know that I am not to simply conform to a doctrine but instead I must be changed by the new things I will think and feel in my heart and mind as I continue to seek the Fathers will for me.

   I have learned that one of the way I needed to change was in the way I dressed. I came from a VERY worldly lifestyle and so my choice of dress was NOT what you would call "modest". Not even remotely, in fact.:s I found that once I changed my way of dressing that it also helped me to begin to behave differently.

   Lots of folks have asked me (and even accused me) if I only act different because I'm trying to "pretend" to be something I'm not. Like a docent who leads folks around wearing her "costume" as she tells of these historical events and such. She will behave as they might have behaved in the era she portrays by her dress. Having been a reenactor I can understand why they questioned me and even accused me of doing exactly that. Putting on a performance. I was asked and told this so often that I truly began questioning my intentions by choosing a change of dress, lifestyle etc.

   What I came up with was I knew that my inner self, the part that truly wants to KNOW God and to understand His Word and what was expected of me as a Christian woman, was indeed changing. I knew that it wasn't just the clothing or lifestyle that was changing me but, in fact, my faith in the Father was "transforming" me.

   1John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world...

   This was my assurance that I was taking a strong step in the right direction for my life. Because I was quite in love with worldly things. I had grown up very poor then married someone who made good money. I was more than willing to surround myself with all that money could buy, rent or borrow:s

   All the changes we were making made it very clear to me that these things really weren't important. They didn't really give me a true sense of joy in my life. In fact, I can look back now and see just how unhappy my life had been during that time. But I digress:)

   Ephesians 4:22-24...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

   Here again, I am told that now that I believe that I must "put off...the old man...and be renewed...and put on the new man" I am told to "change"!

   I began to ponder about how that change occurs and what must happen in order to accomplish it. And better yet...how I was going to learn what that means in the simplest terms possible.

   I thought of Jesus and how He always spoke in parables. He didn't do it to confuse but rather to help folks to understand things in the simplest way possible and still get His point across. He chose to give examples in the most common descriptions of the day so that people could relate to it. People understood what it meant to put something ON or OFF. They understood about the baptism being like rebirth. How the water itself isn't what saves you and that baptism is, in fact, a symbol that portrays how someone is reborn without having to climb "back in the womb". The symbolism of going under the water which shows going beneath the water as if you were taking a bath to clean yourself of all the dirt and sweat of earthly life, then rising out of that water clean and refreshed. Just as Jesus is our "living water" that we immerse ourselves in Him "The Word" and come away from it refreshed.

   This all brings me around to the "Christian Pickle!":) For those of you that garden and grow your own vegetables, you know that a pickle begins its existence as a cucumber. We pluck this cucumber with the intention of making it into a pickle. And so is the desire of our Heavenly Father:)

   Think of how you make pickles. First you grow the cucumber (search Gods Word and discover truth), then you blanch the cucumber (baptism, the symbol of rebirth), pack it into the jar (fellowship with likeminded believers so you can learn more about Gods Word), immerse the cucumbers in brine (study God's Word daily and pray), seal the jar (ask the Father to reveal Himself by breathing the Holy Spirit into you so you may come to know and understand), allow the jar to age. (Grow in His Word through study of scripture and prayer)

   One day, after you have allowed the cucumbers to ferment and set for it's alloted time, you open the jar to partake in the wonderful taste of that pickle. The transformation that occurs is amazing. What was once a cucumber, smoothe, sweet, fresh, has transformed into a pickle that is crunchy, filled with flavor and fermented so that it will have a good shelf life so they may be savoured instead of dying on the vine with precious little time to "transform":)

   Just as this cucumber is transformed into a pickle, so too do I want to be transformed from my soft, shallow and tasteless self into a stronger, flavorful, reborn Christian ready to do the Lords good and perfect will:) I want to be "changed" through faith in Jesus Christ. I want to be "tranformed" by the "renewing" of my spirit and mind.

   You see, we can't help but be transformed if we are truly seeking the Fathers will. It isn't just picking up the bible and pretending to read it, it's searching it, praying on it, striving to live our lives for Him in whatever way He calls us to. He changes our thoughts and actions when we trust in Him and have faith in Him.

   I want to be a PICKLE!:)

   So...which are you? A cucumber? Or a pickle:)

God be with thee!

Sister Lori

Thank you

{ 01:43, Monday, May 14, 2007 } { Posted by katenicholl }

Thank you for writing this piece. I found it very challenging. I would like to print it out so that I can reread it and use it for study of God's Word. I hope you don't mind if I do this.
Thank you again for your Godly words.

Catherine :o)

Pickle

{ 03:28, Monday, May 14, 2007 } { Posted by Chas }

Pickle me please Lord. :) Thanks for your thoughts! A great perspective!
Blessings,
Chas

Great analogy of the Christian and a pickle!

{ 13:11, Sunday, July 1, 2007 } { Posted by proverbs356 }

I loved your openness in your post and can relate to your challenges with modesty and the transformation God does in our lives after salvation. Praise the Lord for letting cucumbers become pickles !