Being wise to Channel One

Luke 11:33-36

In the year of our Lord 1965 August 27, it was no secret, it was not hush-hush, it was very public for all and anyone to know, Robert w. Rice was going to enter into a marriage with Janet G. Barron, and the two were going to enter a covenant to love and honor one another in good times and bad.  It was not hidden, in fact we wanted all to know that we were husband and wife, you might say we let the light of our marriage shine for all to see.

It was four years later, 45 years ago that I entered a relationship with Jesus Christ, and much like my marriage it was a covenant but the guest list was very different; it was seen not by men but by the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers, the spiritual forces of good and evil, and by God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Unlike my marriage to Jan that took place at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, Jesus and I entered into our covenant at the Christopher Inn in Victoria, Texas.   

Unlike my marriage to Jan, where it was very public for all to see, I kept my relationship with Jesus discreet, you see the thief Jesus refers to in John 10:10, knew all about my new relationship with Jesus and he is the one that controls the deceptive channel I often refer to as Channel One.  And this is what I was hearing in a voice that sounds much like mine; be careful who you tell about this new found relationship with Christ, your family and friends believe you have been a Christian since you walked to the front at Ebony Acres Baptist Church as a 13 year old and told the pastor you wanted to be a Christian.  

It was many years later, as I reflect back on my walking down the aisle that I came to an understanding of what happened and what all was involved in my actions at 13 and my keeping silent about being born again.   At thirteen, a man who worked with the youth ask me in a service at that little church where all my friends were sitting with me if I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart, and in my embarrassment the thief spoke to me and said something like this; Bobby go on down and get it over with, join the church and I did, but that is all that happen.  It was years later that I realized it was pride at 13 that kept me from seeking Christ, and it was pride that kept me from telling people who I encountered about Christ in me and me being in Christ, and Christ being in the Father.

Now I’m wise to Channel One, but it is still broadcasting, and it has many friends. The world loves this channel and the world keeps telling the follower of Christ that it’s personnel, do it at church, maybe at home, but be careful because if you let your light shine others will see you as strange, and it will hurt your relationship with both friends, neighbors, and family. 

So it is time to throw-off all that hinders us and let our lights shine so the lost world can come to Christ, and be freed from the control of sin?  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

Remember Jesus’ words in Luke 11:36, “Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice