Beware of cheap imitations...

A few weeks ago, I purchased some store brand dishwashwer detergent. I buy a lot of store brands and thought that it would work the same as the "good stuff" but at a smaller cost. Well...I was wrong. After using the cheap stuff for a week, I noticed that my dishes were getting as strange film on them; their surface texture was rough and dull instead of smooth and shiny. So, I bought the good dishwasher detergent, rewashed all my dishes by hand and then put them in the dishwasher and washed them with the good detergent. They came out clean and shiny. Lesson learned--not all store brands make a good substitue for the original.

So why am I writing this in my blog; well, it got me to thinking (something that my family thinks I do too much of...), how often do we as Christians try to live our lives the quick and cheap way. Instead of taking the time to be still with God, we go for the one-minute devotional or we rattle off a prayer while driving the kids to school. Not that praying while driving is bad, but if that is all the time and effort we put into our relationship with Christ, we are suffering. Our Christian witness to the world around us will become dull. People will not be able to see Christ in us because we are not spending enought time IN THE SON to be able to reflect his holiness. I am reminded of the Old Testament story about when Moses spent time with God and afterward his face shone brightly. We should be shining like the SON so that those around us can see Him reflected in us. We cannot do this by ourselves, we need to spend quality time in God's presence. Go to God and get the good stuff. Cheap imitations will not do!!