Dear Friends,

I have wanted to write about this for so long. It is frustrating. It does not make sense. I do not know what to do. I am going out of my mind. Waaaah!!!

Of course you all know what I am talking about. . . . trying to get plastic bags opened nowadays for the most mundane products. When I was young, the plastic that surrounded things were very easy to open. Just ripe and tear. No problem. No hassle getting from point A to point B. Mission Accomplished! The bag is opened. The sense of satisfaction was immediate and heart felt.

But then the manufacturers huddled together in some secret place and conspired together (with the dentists) to make it IMPOSSIBLE to open up the bag with your bare hands. No way. The ten cent trinket inside must be protected at all cost. The bag must not be opened by any human instrument. Fingers . . . impossible! Teeth . . . no way! Even after 20 million years of development (according to the evolutionists huhuhu), your canine teeth can not open the bag o' steel. No way. You bought it. You suffer. I am so glad that we don't need a phone to pray to the God above. He is always there, the line is never busy, no dropped calls and the reception is heavenly. We don't have to go through an operator, it's free and it brings vital life into the soul. We are told by Ellen G. White that, "When we feel the least inclined to commune with Jesus, let us pray the most. By so doing we shall break Satan’s snare, the clouds of darkness will disappear, and we shall realize the sweet presence of Jesus (Lift Him Up, 372).

So now I have to go looking for something sharp like a scissors or a knife. Hmmm, good luck if you are in an airport or have to pass through a medal detector later in the day. So you are left helpless, staring at some cookie that does not want to be eaten, secure in its plastic prison.

According to the Bible, we are all encapsulated in a prison of sin which it is impossible for us to open. Fingers, teeth, education, effort are absolutely helpless in the restoration and liberation of the human soul. Although some people might dress up or hide their plastic prisons, at the end of the day they are still with us, suffocating our spirituality and our very lives.

Jesus is the only one who can penetrate that plastic. We are told that He is gently knocking at the door and has some delicious cookies and milk to share with us who are starving for victory, starving for spiritual strength. So stop gnashing your teeth on that plastic . . . Just quietly sit down for a few moments and breathe a prayer to the One who loved and died for you. The prison of sin WILL BE dissolved and a new day and a new life will be for all who believe in the Savior.

Happy New Year and God bless us all.

January 18, 2010