By Becca Smith

Our refrigerator isn’t working right.  It keeps things just cool enough to not go bad (for the most part), but not cold enough to enjoy the milk.  The freezer will keep things already frozen, but won’t make the ice cream hard.  Very frustrating.

A few weeks ago we called the repair man.  He gave us very simple advice: “Take everything out of the fridge, unplug it, and leave the doors open for 12 hours.”  Easy enough to do, but that is not what a wanted him to say.  I wanted him to say, “I can be there at 3:30 to take a look and see if it can be fixed.”

I wanted to pay him to fix it.  I didn’t think that I had the time or energy to clean out my fridge and let it sit open for 12 hours.  Now, 3 weeks later, our milk is still mildly cool, the lunch meat has gone bad, and the ice cream is still soft.  I have not done the simple task of unplugging my fridge.  So, we called the repairman again.  Maybe it was to see if he had changed his mind and would come even if we hadn’t followed his advice.  Maybe it was to hear his words again, to be convinced that it was worth my time to follow.

It is crazy that I do the same thing with God.  He gives me very simple things to do:  “Love me, follow me, devour me like food.”  He doesn’t ask me to do the impossible like a triple gainer off of the diving board.  He just wants me to know Him and hang out with Him.  But I don’t think that I have the time or the energy to sit down and read His word or to get up a bit earlier to talk to Him.  I have convinced myself that if I don’t get enough sleep, I will be grumpy, that I need that sleep more than I need what God will give me through time spent with Him. So, just like I am living with mildly cool milk, I live with anger that seems to come out of nowhere, selfish desires that push away my husband and children, pride that makes me defensive when I am wrong.

Just like my desire for the repairman to come over and fix my fridge without me putting out any effort, I want Jesus to fix me with out any effort on my part.  I want him to take away all of the yucky stuff in me.  I want him to carve out my selfishness and my pride.  I want him to make me fantastic all the time.

But herein lies the problem: I want to be selfless toward others while still living selfishly toward Jesus.  He won’t let it work that way.  Jesus tells us that our first command is to love Him and the second is to love others.  I must become selfless toward Jesus before I can become selfless and kind toward others.

I am tired of eating soft ice cream.  I am tired of drinking cool milk.  Today I am cleaning out my fridge and unplugging it.  I pray that I will also become so tired of my self, my pride, and my anger that I will start on the work that the Lord has for me also--listening to Him, devouring Him, being with Him, loving Him, obeying Him.

(P.S. We followed the repairman’s advice--we obeyed--and our fridge works like new.  We have ice-cold milk again!)