Sugar Rush

by Adam Kronberger / Head of School

I generally eat lunch at my desk for a quick 5 minutes as I check some emails.  I am currently having some challenges with my routine. Apparently, my eating habits are not consistently hygienic and sometimes crumbs are left behind.  So some sugar ant friends have  begun to show up. At first, it was just a few scouts. But now they have told all their friends and it is becoming more of an issue.  Actually, it is a big issue as my desk is sometimes a shared workspace and it is just downright embarrassing!

I know exactly what I need to do.  I have already purchased the proven Terro poison and simply need to leave it out on my desk.  The “poison” is almost entirely composed of sugar with just a little bit of poison mixed in. My reservation is that when I finally put out the delicious poisonous bait, the problem will temporarily get much worse.  I need to be prepared for an ant party on my desk for a couple of days as they tell all their friends where the “good stuff” is. Eventually, they will return to their hole in the wall and share their poison and fall asleep hopefully forever.  I have a tough job to do, but it must be done.

God is in the business of handing out tough jobs to us.  In Ephesians 2:10 we read that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Oftentimes we have reservations though in truly engaging in these good works God has called us to.  Why? We know that often things will get harder before they get easier. In order to “overcome evil with good” we must go into the darkness and shine the light.  Whether the darkness is in our world, our community, or is in our own heart, bringing to death the pests that plague God’s design isn’t easy. But God has already prepared the results.  We just need to walk them out. 

I am grateful that you (hopefully) overlook my imperfect eating habits.  I am even more grateful that the Lord gives allowance for my shortcomings.  Before God calls us to these good works he proclaims in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  The good works do not produce our salvation.  Only faith leads to salvation. And there is no more reasonable response to this great gift than to ask God about the jobs He has for us and then to get to work. 
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