Watered-Down Christians

"Mom, what's wrong with these ice cubes?" asked Nora. "They're all brown!"Mom glanced at the dark cubes and grinned. "I used iced tea to make those," she explained. "I made them for Grandpa. You know how he loves good, strong iced tea on hot summer days."Nora smiled at her grandfather, who sat at the kitchen table. She knew he disliked his tea watery and weak, the way it got when too many ice cubes melted in it. She popped several of the brown cubes into a tall glass and poured fresh iced tea over them. "Here you go, Grandpa. Good, strong tea, unspoiled by ordinary ice cubes.""Thanks, Nora," said Grandpa, taking the tea. "Just the way I like it." He took a big gulp and let out a sigh. "Now, what can these ice cubes teach us about living the Christian life?"Mom and Nora exchanged knowing glances. Grandpa seemed to be able to find a spiritual lesson in almost anything. "Well," said Nora, "I guess ice cubes made out of tea keep your iced tea tasting strong, and we want to stay strong as Christians, right?""Right," said Grandpa. "When you use regular ice cubes, they melt and the tea becomes diluted--weak and tasteless. We don't want to be diluted Christians, do we?" He took another sip of tea. "What kinds of things might water us down if we're not careful?""Hmm," said Nora. "Maybe going along with what everyone else is doing just to fit in?"Grandpa nodded. "When we allow the opinions of others to determine what we think and do instead of God, it makes us weak and ineffective. The Bible tells us to separate ourselves from the world. That means we should think and act differently from those around us who don't know Jesus. Instead of looking for worth and contentment in the things of this world, we need to look to Jesus, who loves us so much He died on the cross to save us."Grandpa finished his tea and then shook the glass, making the brown ice cubes at the bottom rattle. "You can't follow both Jesus and the world--one will eventually water down the other. We need to remember that we belong to Jesus and trust Him to help us stay strong as we follow Him." -Lois A. Teufel