Elders Journal

Active Ingredient

         Almost everything we purchase today, whether in the retail market locally or ordered by mail or “online,” is required by law to display a list of contents or ingredients on the packaging. This is especially true with the food products and household cleaners and other chemicals most of us use daily. Of course, some of the labels have warnings for our protection, since some things could be dangerous if not handled properly.

              Perhaps you have noticed that some every-day, common foodstuffs, chemicals, and even medicines list active and inactive (or inert) ingredients. There are many products that include catalysts, fillers, or binders which make up a larger portion of some things but have little or nothing to do with its intended function. Preservatives and colors that help promote the sale of the product are sometimes added but have little or no value for the consumer. The active ingredient in some consumer products may only be a small percentage of the total volume! There may be good reason for us to read the labels on the items we purchase, especially our food, but should we be equally concerned about the content of some information we store in our minds?

              The content of our character is affected by the choices we make and our physical, mental, and spiritual condition may be permanently altered in some manner. What is the “active ingredient” in our cognitive reasoning that motivates the choices we make, good or bad, and does our lifestyle always reflect those choices? All of us are ruled and possibly judged by the character we develop every day but frustration may follow us if we are constantly adjusting our lifestyle looking for stability in temporal things. Hope with eternal essence is the only emotion that can cure the world’s failed efforts to attain peace and stability in the daily routines of our life!

              The Bible says that the substance of lasting hope is evidenced and defined by our faith. How much effort do we invest in believing beyond the limitations of the world we see now. Our characters must grow and develop into ones that are constantly anticipating a new world where righteousness rules supreme. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is preparing a Kingdom like that and everyone who believes His promise is given citizenship in a New World! We will never worry about the warning labels on canned food anymore and sorrow, pain, and death will not be in our vocabulary. May this type of hope be the “active ingredient” that motivates and sustains us until God’s promise becomes a reality.