Another post by Glenn:

I was just inspired by my wife’s blog post yesterday (“Abraham’s Blessing” – stop reading mine if you haven’t read hers already; I assure you that it will be more worth your time). God enables us to be consistent and true, and He forgives and restores us when we fall short of the ideal that He has set and empowered us to reach through the Holy Spirit.

I would like to extend this thought through another pondering on food. And I would like to apologize to any readers that tire of my continued commentary on food (see “Continental Breakfast“). However this recurring theme should be no surprise to those who know me well.

One of the products that my family consumes at an alarming rate is juice – orange juice for breakfast, apple juice in sippy cups, strawberry/mango/pineapple/guava/bristle-berry juice in Ruth’s smoothies, etc… You get the idea. Some of these juices happen to be “Juicy Juice” brand, which we enjoy and appreciate. However, if you are familiar with “Juicy Juice”, you may have noticed that their myriad of juices all seem to have a distinct and similar quality about them that makes them immediately distinguishable to the discerning palate (which I humbly consider myself to have). Upon further research and inquiry into why this may be the case (i.e.  reading the label), I learned something very unsettling – my “Orange/Tangerine Juice Blend” was primarily a blend of apple, pear and grape.

I needed a moment. It all made sense. All of those times that it seemed that the “Fruit Punch” tasted just like the “Apple Berry”… I had been dazzled by the unique fruits on the packaging, the brightly colored juices in the clear container, the affordable price regardless of coupons and in-store promotions. I felt like a fool, being led along by a mass-distributed fruit beverage marketing campaign.

So how does my disillusionment regarding the ingredients of “Juicy Juice” relate to “Abraham’s Blessing”? Essentially, there should no disconnect between who I am on the inside and on the outside. The person that God has made me on the inside should be the person that everyone sees on the outside. And when I fail to meet that standard, I come before God to ask his forgiveness and enablement to better serve and love Him as his child. In other words, the world doesn’t need another person that has a label that says one thing while being something else on the inside.