Jesus in a Box

Do you experience Sunday highs during and after church, only to be followed by the Monday Blues, then Tension Headache Tuesday? Do you start to feel optimistic on Wednesday, also known as Hump Day? You’re looking forward to a wonderful Bible study that evening. Your proverbial spiritual tank is full again. Then comes Thankful Thursday and Fantastic Friday. It’s time for the weekend! Saturday rolls around, and just as your mood starts to decline after catching up on chores and noticing how quickly the weekend is passing, Sunday arrives. The praise and worship team at church seems to breathe life into you again. Then comes Monday. The cycle continues. If you experience any of these symptoms, you may be suffering from Jesus in a Box. Thankfully, there’s help.

When this scenario came to mind, it made me laugh a bit. Although this is serious business and at a time when there is so much darkness in the world, I love that I can still share the message of God’s Kingdom and add a little humor to it.

Except for one weekly program, I rarely watch live network television. Each week, during this 90-minute program, I usually mute the TV and focus on something else during commercials, but one week, I decided to listen and pay attention. As a result, I saw numerous commercials, many of which were for prescription drugs. It’s sickening, pun intended, how the enemy uses these drug commercials to get people to accept sickness and disease as a normal and inevitable part of life. By the way, all marketing is driven by seductive spirits whose goal is to entice you to believe you need whatever is being marketed…but I digress.

I started thinking about how many people treat their relationship with God in the same way they do medication. When a crisis arises, they want heavy doses of God. They look to others for prayer, quote scriptures and affirmations, and listen to praise and worship music while calling out to God to help them through whatever they are dealing with. When the crisis is over and things are well again, they return to their previous lifestyle and either disregard God altogether or continue with their normal pattern of doing just enough to check their spiritual obligation box, so they don’t feel guilty about not having a genuine, intimate relationship with God. Some do not realize their relationship is not genuine. So many people never leave spiritual kindergarten. If this describes your life, I can assure you that “prescription” is no good.

I am familiar with this pattern because I used to live it. Looking back, I can see that it was absolute insanity. I did not realize that I didn’t truly know God, and that I didn’t have to be on the hamster wheel, going nowhere. I thought I was all in, but looking back, I see that I was lukewarm. I knew there had to be more to life than the insanity of just getting through each day, suffering through trials, dealing with dysfunction from every angle, and always looking forward to the weekend, yet never being able to enjoy it fully.

At some point, after hearing biblical teachings from people who challenged what the education system, media, and organized religion had indoctrinated me with, I shifted from initially thinking these people were crazy to realizing that they were correct based on the Word of God. I had finally yielded to the Holy Spirit, gained the courage to question everything, even if it made me uncomfortable, and began to understand God’s Word in a way I had never understood it before.

The beauty of this journey is that each of us gets our own customized experience with God. Sit and think about that for a moment. Do you understand how special you are, and the life God wants you to have while you are on this earth? Imagine entering a small boutique. The owner greets you and asks how they can help. You tell them you are just browsing. You look around for a while, pick up and observe a few things here and there, then leave without making a purchase. If you come in and buy a small trinket occasionally, the owner may want to tell you about other items they have, but you are always in a hurry and only focused on getting what you want and leaving.

Finally, imagine going into that boutique and taking time to get to know the owner. You learn how it all began and the vision they have for the boutique. You realize that every item they sell has a personal story. You visit frequently and make purchases big and small. As you and the owner have gotten to know each other, your relationship develops to a point where the owner reaches out to you when they stock items that are perfect for you. You are no longer a random customer or a window shopper. The owner now has you in mind when selecting products.

That may not be the best example, but hopefully you get my point. God wants you to know Him on a deeper personal level. He wants to reveal the deeper things of His Kingdom to you and show you how you can break free from the insanity of this world and enjoy the benefits of Kingdom citizenship.

We must stop saying we are in this world but not of it while continuing to move with and behave like the rest of the world. The only way to break free from the patterns imposed upon us by the world is to embrace the Word of God fully. Our desire and willingness to put on the nature of Christ must be stronger than the desire for anything this world has to offer. We can only get to this point by studying the Word and spending quality time with God. 

If you are a Christian or follower of Christ, you must understand the war that is going on for control of your soul and take it seriously. God has placed so much power within us, and not walking in it is like having a refrigerator full of food, yet starving to death because you refuse to open it. It is time to stop putting Jesus in a box. So many people are starving spiritually because they continue to walk in line with the programs of the world that do not nourish the soul. It does not have to be this way.

Remember, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Jesus said in John 16:33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Open your Bible and study it daily. Listen to biblical teachers who challenge you to question everything and to be led by the Holy Spirit. If Christ is in you, you too are an overcomer, and it is time to walk in it.

Thanks for reading! I’m so glad you stopped by today. For more reflections on faith, purpose, and spiritual growth, check out my Wilderness to Wisdom podcast — available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.