Christian Living

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Somebody sent me an email funny called “I Wish I Were a Bear.” Here are a few advantages to being one of these burley creatures:

If you’re a female bear, your husband sees excess body fat as an asset. He also likes unshaved legs—the more hair, the better you look to him.

If you’re a mama bear and somebody bullies your cubs, forget about “working it out” with politically correct techniques. You settle it by swatting the bully back into the woods.

Last, and this includes all bears, you get to eat yourself stupid and sleep for six months.

I don’t mean to brag, but I’d excel at that last one. The Lord has abundantly blessed me with the ability to eat much and sleep deep--the problem is that I’m not a bear, though I have behaved like one. (Think over-stuffed Thanksgiving dinner, immediately followed by the mandatory snooze on the sofa.)

I’m not opposed to short-term hibernation. It can be beneficial to temporarily pull back from the mainstream of everyday living. The loss of a loved one, especially, can put us in a place where life is everything BUT normal. If we’re able to take a breather, and use the time to draw closer to the Lord, we’ll emerge better able to move forward and redefine the word “normal.”

Sometimes, we allow the demands of life to crowd out our time with God and interrupt the unity of our families and friendships. To get on track, we need to step away from the craziness and not come out until we’ve prioritized and restructured. Other times, things are fine, but we occasionally need a day off, one to hang out in our sweats, catch a Green Acres marathon and not count the fat grams in that glazed donut.

As Christians, it’s often tempting to hibernate from the world, and some believers are determined to do so. They home-teach, home-preach and have banned most forms of typical entertainment. Some feel led to do this, while others are control freaks; either way, it’s easy to understand their desire to steer clear of this world.

“There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without good, treacherous, rash conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3: 1-5)

Sound familiar? It’s the world we live in, and its mind set is Babylonian to the bone.

The Bible calls us aliens and strangers in the world. (1 Peter 2:11) It doesn’t, however, say we’re to take refuge in a cave until the Lord calls us home. Jesus said, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:3)

We aren’t of this world, but we are in it and are called to serve for God’s glory, always acting for the good of others. (1 Corinthians 10:24) How can we do that when we’re hoarding God’s love for ourselves?

God wouldn’t put us here if He wasn’t able to equip us to do His will in a Babylonian-type world. Think of the prophet Daniel, who lived in Babylon with its temptations and self-indulgence, and its hostility towards the true Creator. Through resolve to serve God, Daniel was victorious in a culture that sounds much like the one surrounding us today.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

While we needn’t be social butterflies to serve God, it’s hard to do our part in the Great Commission when we’re only expressing God’s glory to the hamster and goldfish. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14)

Are we snoozing when we should be serving? Just as bears emerge from hibernation, let’s us also awaken to a new season of opportunities to glorify God.

©Donna G. Morton, April 2007

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