Temporary Shell

They usually come in a carton by the dozen or half...

from the local stores, the farms, or chickens in your own backyard.

Eggs are quite a popular menu item.

They all the same on the inside.

No matter how they are shaped or colored

Small, medium, large, or ex-large

White, a shade of brown, or black

An egg's shell is destined to cracked open.

Why?

Because the egg's real substance is found inside. An eggshell’s purpose is to act as a protective layer from dangerous elements, while its semipermeable nature allows air and moisture to get through the small pores so those elements can help the cell fully mature. In other words, the shell is simple a vessel that hold the life on the inside until it reaches its transformation.

We, as human beings, come in varies skin colors, sizes, and backgrounds. Yet, we are all made up of the same matter on the inside. We, too, have a shell; however, we call it a body. This body was only created to serve as a temporary vessel.

Thank God, right!

Because our shells are very fragile. We seek refuge in a fridge of good nutrition, fitness, vitamins, and vaccines to preserve our shells as long as possible. We spend millions trying to buy more time and often to rewind it. All the while, experiences and the unexpected interruptions strike our shell and we crack or we slip, fall and we break.

Life gives messy. Our hearts seep in a pan of pain only to be scrambled, fried, or poached by the harsh elements and served to a world that promised us another appetizing remedy only to devour us as theirs.

Schemes of the devil put us in hot water. Too long in that environment and the boiling changes us. Our minds' membranes fill up with worldly knowledge and cast away the wisdom of faith and our hearts are hardened to protect themselves. The boiling point damages our souls making it easier to believe it is only an element in a childhood dream.

Within all the chaos, we are bathe in a cup of red lust, greed envy, yellow greed, or blue pride, unaware of the sour vinegar that is changing our shell. Once we arise from the cup, the stains will appear, maybe only to our own eyes, maybe not. Nevertheless, we will attempt to hide the stains with colorful stickers that we call treatment. But sooner or later, we end up diving into another cup and getting more stains to our shells. Slowly or rapidly dying. In a matter of time, we will not realize our own shells. Maybe we will look pretty or be admitted others for our festive personal style. Maybe our stains will be all that others see and not our natural beauty. Either way, our shells will not last.

As much as we want to remain in the fridge to preserve our shell a little longer, there will come a time when our shells will be no more. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, kind or rude, healthy or unhealthy, or have a college-degree or not.

At that point, our boiled yolk is places in a bowl with the pickles that we got into add to the mayo of our good choices and the mustard of self-reliance and then it all blended. Soon after, we sprinkled with the spicy of paprika of sin and served on a plate as another one of those devil's eggs.

But it doesn't have to be this way. We were always meant to emerge from our shells with fully develop wings and fly home. Luckily, we are not eggs.

We have free- will given by a good God. Thus we have the power to choose our shells or our yolk (flesh or soul).

Luke 17:33 "Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it."

We will not always get to choose what happens to our shells. People will abuse parts of our shells with or without our permission. The devil will scheme. I know that it will trick all of us at some point. We will be put in the frying pain of pain and suffering, whether our choices lead us there or someone else’s do. That is why I am thankful that my shell is only temporary. Its temporary state makes the pain that others cause me a little easier to handle. A temporary shell makes it a little easier for me to forgive. Its brief presence makes it more important for me to show mercy. Its short-lived stage makes it essential to work to share God's unconditionally love and try to give unconditionally respect. Even in hard times and in the presence of hell-bent hearts, I can thank God for a permanent yolk because this chilly fridge of a world is only my temporary home.

I have fallen into the devil's cups, submerged myself in the seductions of sin, and tried to cover up the stains with world's remedies. In my cries of brokenness, I was found by the one who promised me a second chance. I know He saw my cracks and He still chose to pay for me. Because of His grace I am confident that I will not become one of those devil's eggs.

I am also thankful that I have a choice. That choice is what happens to my permanent yolk (my soul). I know that I have one. I know that I have the power to steer it toward the perfect vessel of salvation or take my chances with my own shell substance. I control my own fate and so do you. Not because of anything I have or will do. No, because of what Jesus did. He paid for my stains.

When life gets messy, I chose to hold onto the yolk of Jesus’s grace. I could let it go and do this life my own way. However, I know that the life that I gain in this temporary life isn't worth the permanent price that I will pay. Plus, I mess my life up on my own. Lessons I am still learning; yes, I am a work in process and will be until the day I die. Honestly, I know the only way I am getting home is through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Until I am ready to break free from my temporary shell, I choose to remain in the incubator of God's Spirit. It provides me with the warmth of His presence, love, mercy, guidance, and strength. It is helping my soul to mature. The incubator is preserving my permanent life, so I can live forever free of the bondage of a shell.

Our shells are temporary whether we choose to believe in Jesus or not. If we choose to preserve our faith in Jesus. He gives all of us another chance at life. Yet, it is not a life like this one. No, the life He promises is without frying pans of pain, without the boiling water of the devil's schemes, and without the need for preservation in a chilly fridge of uncertainty. Jesus sees your cracks in your shell and He still pays the price for you. Not because of your shell but because His father created your yolk and He sent Jesus to give it back. The question is whether you will choose to let Him give you the wings of His grace or not.