smokin' what your sellin'

From about the time I was 17 years old until I became a follower of Christ and experienced significant life change at 23, I was a marijuana dealer. I hope that doesn’t shock you too badly. I would drive way south and pick up hefty trash bags filled with the stuff. I also smoked pot quite a bit in those days. Here’s the deal though: I would get what would be considered a medium grade supply to sell to my customers and then I would purchase high end grade for my personal use. I would look people in the eye and tell them that I was giving them the good stuff when really I was personally using something else. I was not smokin’ what I was sellin’.

Let me ask you a question, how do you get high? I mean, everyone tries to get high somehow, don’t they? Everyone uses something or someone to help them feel better-to be up, right? Many use something to give them a lift, whether it is a chemical or any number of other stimulating experiences.

Jesus talked a whole lot about life: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me …has passed out of death into life…and those who hear will live. "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; John 5:24,26…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

I think for many Christians, we say that we believe in Jesus, but what does that mean? I suspect the extent for many is a ticket to heaven one day. Being a Christian means some life after this life. Guess what this means? They still need life now. So what do we do? We live it up! I mean up! You know, we try to get high somehow. For some it means partying hearty, while for others it means sexual encounters, for others it’s making more money, or entertainment of some kind, trips, vacations, and a whole host of options. Don’t get me wrong, some of these things are meant by God to be enjoyed.

So what’s the problem, Chris? The problem as I see it is that many of us are not smokin’ what we’re sellin’. We fill up churches singing songs and praying prayers about this Jesus who gives peace, joy, love, etc., but privately, we are using something else during the week. This is hypocrisy in its most obvious expression.

I am making a fresh discovery. Jesus gives me the pure stuff. If I resist my temptation to look at alternative sources of life, and truly ask Him for life, he can and will deliver. I’ve been focusing my heart on this Person that we say we “believe in” and allowing Him to give me “life”. You know what’s kind of cool? Jesus gives the good stuff. There is no middle man. He takes me straight to the source. He never runs out. AND, this is the biggie, IT’S FREE!

Make no mistake; as long as Jesus is just an option, he is not an option. He must be first. He must be all. “…and this life is in his Son…So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life” John 5:13 It is hypocrisy for me to tell everyone that Jesus is the “way, the truth, and the life” and I experientially don’t know it or really believe it.

Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17 (NLT)

I’m smokin’ what I’m sellin’.

Chris