Are you a Cookie or a Mouse?

Mouse in a Cookie Jar

Is being religious enough?

If I put a mouse in a cookie jar, would it make it a cookie? No.

After years of being raised in a Christian home, going to church every time the doors were open, acting and looking religious, I was almost shocked to discover that that did not automatically make me a Christian. I was like a mouse in a cookie jar, thinking I was a cookie.

I knew a lot about God and memorized verses in Sunday School like John 3:16:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not die but have eternal life.”

One summer night, lying on my bed feeling the cool night air blowing over me, I heard Jesus say, “Look!  Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.” Revelation 3:20 (another Sunday School memory verse).

Upon hearing that verse, I realized somehow, some way that it wasn’t enough to just believe and be religious. Right then and there, I opened the door, asked and received Jesus into my life. If someone would have asked me, “Did He come in?” I would have confidently answered “Yes!” I didn’t feel any different or hear angels playing harps, but I knew He came in because He promised He would!  A 9-year-old’s childlike faith…

In John 1:12, Jesus said, “To all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God.” Notice, no mention of being religious.

Do you believe? Have you received?

Do you know any religious “mice” who think they are “cookie” Christians who might benefit from this word picture?

 

Philippians 3:8-9;  Ephesians 2:8-10;  Romans 2:28-29

As Always, From my Heart,

Debbie