JESUS Is Our True Green!

Peer Pressure.
It isn’t just for teenagers. When it comes to summer projects, adults can get embroiled in “keeping up with the Joneses” too.


For example, last week our next door neighbors re-painted their kitchen and living/dining room areas. Little did they know they would start a chain reaction. You see, both our families share a duplex; we actually moved in within a week of each other two years ago. So when they began customizing their walls, I caught the decorating “bug!” Who would have guessed that home décor urges were so contagious???

Since their updated walls looked great, I decided that I needed a new look too. Yet, while their decision about a new color seemed a breeze, I found myself mired in pigment swatches! Even worse, in my quest for the perfect color I painted the dining room wall with several options side by side, ending up with a hodge-podge effect. Oh, beware of those three dollar sample bottles! Though they’re a great way to check out new colors, one can overdo it. My confusion increased exponentially.

In fact, trying to find the RIGHT shade of green to complement the other green hues in my house was a daunting task. The color Green results from mixing the primary colors blue and yellow together. Depending on the amount of each pigment, the resulting green will have either a predominately blue tint or yellow tint. I prefer greens that have a blue tint while my husband (with his olive skin tone) prefers greens that tint yellow. Consequently, my attempt to find the perfect green (with blue tint) to “go” with the yellow tinted greens we already have, was enough to tear my hair out. Confused yet?

Upon reflection, I’ve decided the root of my struggle is a propensity to over analyze. Can anyone relate? And after wrestling with color chips for days, I realized that many people have a similar struggle with Christianity. God tells us in the Bible that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. He is the True Green, if you will, who gives us Eternal Life! Yet many people want to choose their own way to God. The more they study world religions, the more confused they get. Their efforts to control their own destinies consume them and they often construct a “god” that is very different from Abraham’s God, Yahweh, our Almighty Creator.

This past Sunday, my pastor shared a simple way to explain the essence of the scriptures. He said that the crux of the Bible can be understood in light of just two men…Adam and Christ. (Check out the Book of Romans, Chapter 5)

Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden where all his needs were met. He had meaningful work, a precious partner (Eve), a beautiful world to live in and free will. God, his Heavenly Father, gave him only one prohibition: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But as we know, Adam chose to disobey. That one act of disobedience ushered in the presence of sin which has tainted all of creation, including every human heart.

Then, at just the right time, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Jesus was born into our world, fully God and fully man, to do what no one else could ever do. His specific mission: to die as the sacrificial Lamb, appointed to pay for all the sin of mankind. Jesus chose to obey his Heavenly Father even unto a gruesome death!

Now every human being has a choice: to attempt to govern their own lives, living out the sentence of sin and judgment initiated by Adam; or choose to follow Christ in repentance and faith which leads to redemption and a new spiritual birth.

For many, the decision to trust Christ seems so complicated…kind of like choosing the “perfect” color. Some folks over analyze their need for God. They struggle to believe His promises and His provision, when all they truly need is to humble their hearts and reach for a Savior who is worthy of adoration and allegiance. As the Apostle Paul proclaimed, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!” (Acts 16:31)

Thinking about Jesus as God’s “true” green reminded me that all the different greens in nature blend beautifully together. God is the Master Artist and every day I witness the harmony of hues He’s created. So finally, I made a color choice! Then I thanked God for my dear husband who was willing to do the actual painting… even though we prefer different tints of green.

(The finished project!)