Who would have thought that the Lord would use a bag of potato chips as an analogy to express a thought.
As we open the bag, the aroma of the feast fills our senses, some are salty, others are of garlic, barbeque sauce, ranch dressing, jalapeno or vinegar. They are usually eaten one by one, each savored for their rich flavor. We are satisfied with our indulgence, until we get to the bottom of the bag where the smallest of crumbs are. I''m not quite sure why, but for some reason we try to either pinch, scoop or invert the bag in order that none of these crumbs are left. What we discover is that all together they don''t even form one chip as a whole. In our efforts to consume every last bit, we usually make a mess all over ourselves, and the enjoyment of these crumbs escapes us.
In our lives we will encounter a variety of people who add different spices to enrich our life, each very distinctive in what they bring to us. They add joy, wisdom, love, friendship, adventure, and they challenge us to be more than we believed we could be. Why is it then, that we place so much importance on the opinions of those who represent the broken crumbs left in the bag? All about us we have people who offer only positive reinforcement to our lives, their flavor is so rich, that we seek them out for needed guidance. Unfortunately, we often allow those with no positive attributes to question our abilities and love of God. We forget that their influence in our lives, will usually leave us with nothing more than a mess of confusion and self-doubt.
We need to remember to savor our positive reinforcing influences, and to leave the rest ''in the bag''.