What's the use?

So I have cleaned off and (mostly) cleaned out my refrigerator, in anticipation of a new one coming tomorrow.  In the process, I found a lot of food that was in for far too long - it was no longer edible.  Like the orange juice concentrate from 2012 that was shoved in the back of the freezer, that had kind of evaporated, if that's what frozen stuff does.  Or the two (count'em two) bottles of Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce on the refrigerator door that were both 3/4 full...or the homemade applesauce that got freezer burned.  All bought, opened, used, put away with full intention of using up completely.

And I started to think about how much of our faith we put on the shelf intending to use it "sometime."  One day I'll forgive that person that hurt me.  One day I'll donate some time to the food pantry/clothing closet in town.  One day I'll tutor those kids who need some extra help in school.  One day I'll sit down with that friend who just lost their job/spouse/child.  One day I'll get back to church.  One day I'll start going to Bible Study.  One day I'll really read my Bible, and try to live by what it teaches me.  One day...but that day doesn't come around.  We stick our faith in the closet, occasionally taking it out for show but mostly forgetting about it.

We call ourselves "blessed" because we have the money for the big house or the new car or the big tv or the fancy vacation...and miss the true blessings all around us.  We miss the opportunity to be a blessing to others.  We are so caught up in the rat race that we don't even realize that the rats have won a long time ago.  And we wonder why we're emotionally empty.  We wonder why we're stressed.  We wonder why our churches are empty...but because we forget that we are called to live differently, those who are on the outside see no change in us, and therefore see no reason to want what we so freely have.

We should not live out our faith for any other reason than out of gratitude for the gift of grace given to us by God.  We certainly should not "do" things in order to "earn" our grace.  But we forget that faith without works is dead.  We who call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ forget that we were given a commission - to go into the world (the world of our job, of our school, of our family, of our neighborhood, not just "the world"), making disciples, and teaching them.  But if we are not disciples ourselves, if we are not taught, then our faith is about as expired as that can of orange juice concentrate I just washed down the sink.  And what's the use?