Imaginary Friends

So, cool things happened in the past two days.

Wednesday night at church, my youth leader, Shane, was teaching us about pride. We read part of Esther 3 (ANOTHER COOL THING: I just opened my Bible up to go to Esther, and the first page I flipped to was in Esther… coincidence? I think not.) and we read about how Mordecai would not bow down or pay the king honor. Apparently, everyone in that country believed that King Xerxes (I’m just going to say “King X” because I can’t actually pronounce his name in real life, so I’m not going to pretend I can through your computer screen) was not just a king, but a “divine” king. Shane then asked us what the word “divine” actually meant…

divine: “of, from, or like God.”

Basically, they looked at him like they looked at God. When Mordecai wouldn’t bow down because of his belief that there is only ONE God, King X’s buddy Haman heard about it. Haman was not just King X’s friendly acquaintance… this was his right hand man. His go-to dude. Two peas in a pod. Peanut butter and jelly. Popcorn and a movie. Mustard and ketchup. Waffles and chocolate chips (my favorite, especially if it has a wholeeee lot of butter). You get the idea! They were tight.

When Haman heard that Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to King X, he was “enraged.” So, instead of just letting it slide or calmly discussing the matter... he decides that he wants to kill all of the Jews in the kingdom.

Seems rational.

Later, Haman tells King X, which causes King X to freak out, too. Haman uses his trickery skills to exaggerate the truth and tell the king facts that make allllllllllll of the Jews look like they are no longer bowing down to him either. So, because of his PRIDE, King X agrees to let Haman do what he wants. Even though this is just a little snippet of this story, you can see that pride can cause people to do wild things - for instance, agree to kill off an entire group of people.

Now, the thing that makes the previous thing even cooler:

My Bible study group (technically I’m not in it because I’ve been too busy to physically attend… but I’m in the group message and I read along, so I’m gonna count myself) is reading Daniel right now. When I got home from church after learning about King X, I was reading Daniel 3. In this chapter, King Nebuchadnezzar sets up a ginormous image of gold for the people to worship. Everyone is commanded to fall down and worship, and if they don’t, they will be thrown into a furnace. Well, some astrologers notice that three men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not worship. The astrologers go tell King Neb, and Neb is “furious with rage” because they are not following his decrees and bowing down. He is full of pride.

I like playing this game (I call it "Imaginary Friends" if you're curious, though I doubt you were wondering) where I look at all of my friends and decide what TV/movie characters they’d be friends with. It’s pretty fun, especially when I pair completely opposite people up and imagine them in situations together. I’m LOL’ing at one right now.

*I’m going to add a list at the bottom in case anyone is interested. You may be on it… you have been warned.

Anyways, let’s decide who would be friends with each other from the two Bible stories.

Mordecai - does not bow to “divine” king

King X - furious because man does not bow to him

Haman - tattletale

Shadrach/Meshach/Abednego - does not bow to “divine” idol

King Neb - furious because men do not bow to his idol

Astrologers - tattletales

Take a moment to get your answer...

CORRECT!

...I actually have no way of knowing if you’re correct, I kind of just pulled a Dora the Explorer and assumed you yelled the right answer at your screen. Anyway, here are the answers:

-Mordecai and Shad/Me/Abed are BFFs because they share an outstanding love for God, they have impeccable faith, and they do not bow down to “divine” things other than God (HA, because nothing is divine other than God!). I imagine them all meeting up at the temple, doing a little worshipin’, then hitting up Burger King of Kings (where the slogan is: “Have it Yahweh”).

-King X and Neb are buds because they are both self-centered, narcissistic, prideful killers. They meet in smoky conference rooms to plan their next threatening decrees.

-And then there’s Haman and the astrologers... They don’t get to meet up anywhere, because of their tattletale-ness.

Let’s take an imaginary walk into the smoky conference room. The two kings are so full of themselves! They go to the extent of having people killed, just because there’s a possibility of their image being ruined. But did it really matter? Does your image really mean that much? In Daniel 5, it says,

“But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was disposed from his royal throne and stripped from his glory.”

-Daniel 5:20 (NIV)

If we are prideful and care so much about what people think of us, it tears us away from God. We get too caught up on being the “top dog” on earth, but in the end, does it matter? This thought always takes me to this verse:

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

-John 15:19 (NIV)

Because Jesus is not of this world, he was rejected by man. He was hated. Therefore, if we are hated because of our faith, then we must be doing something right! But if we’re too focused on our image and what these our fellow earthlings think of us, that automatically creates a barrier between us and God. It causes us to not be able to give our all to God.

People’s opinions, rumors, lies, and thoughts about you don’t matter. God knows the truth, so we (including myself, because obviously I needed a little “pride” lesson - due to the biblical hints God sent my way Wednesday night) need to let go of our pride, let loose, and do what we need to do to get right with God. But like my pastor said this morning, God is the one who gives us what we need, we will never be able to do anything for Him. I am so thankful for a merciful God who loves me UNCONDITIONALLY.

unconditionally: “absolute and not subject to any terms or conditions”

Dumbed down: God doesn’t need anything from us, He doesn’t ask for anything in return, He just LOVES us. Without His grace, we would be………. in trouble.

Today is a wonderful day! Wonderful sermon, wonderful Zaxby’s trip, wonderful sweatshirt/yoga pants/fuzzy sock twinning with Mama:

Wonderful napping weather, wonderful movie day, wonderful time to not worry about schoolwork, wonderful candy leftover from my Christmas stocking waiting for me to eat, wonderful laughter (brought to me by: our 3-year-old class), and of course, a wonderful wonderful Lord!

*And now, the moment you have been waiting for... the wonderful list of imaginary friends!

Jared Melton/Zach Galifianakis

This would just be hilarious.

Mama/Pioneer Woman

Mama loves the Pioneer Woman.

Daddy/Michael Scott (“The Office”)

Due to the unintentional awkward comments and jokes.

Jack McRee/Forrest Gump

I just think they would get along well, and Forrest would ask Jack a lot of questions.

Tammy Melton/Lucy Ricardo

Because Tam Tam’s a fun time and Lucy’s a fun time. They would get into something.

Abby LeCroy/Hermione Granger

Just imagine the intellectual conversation between these two...

Kait Kesler/Rizzo

Not just because she played her when we did Grease, but because she can throw down some singing and she is a daring, fun little rascal.

Reagan Floyd/Rapunzel

They could paint so many beautiful walls. And anything else artsy.

Matthew Pressley/ E.T.

I just want this to happen.

Clark Gaines/Mickey Mouse

DISNEY.

Haley Andrews/Hayley Goodfairer (“Sandlot 2”)

They are both sporty and gawgeous, HELLO.

Kaytlin Stubbs/Cinderella

Since this is the only princess she HASN’T been! (But it won’t be long, Stubbs, it won’t be long.)

Kirstin King/Megara (“Hercules”)

The sass force is strong with these two.

Charity Moon Henry/Mary Poppins

She takes care of everything, sometimes she literally “makes the job a game,” and she's occasionally just downright magical.

Barbara Fields/Barbie

She may be my grandma, but she is the most fabulous person I know. And both names start with “Barb,” so it’s basically fate.

Donna Jackson/Madea

If you know (or are) DJ… you understand.

Elizabeth Jackson/Laura Ingalls (one of my favorite characters ever)

Two hard-working people who get things done that their mind is set on.

Luke Fowler/Hermey ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer")

They both want to be dentists, they could go to dental school together!

Mollie Herndon/Mary Katherine Gallagher ("Superstar")

This friendship would elate my SOUL.

Uncle Dave/Uncle Jesse (“Full House”)

Uncle in a band.

Uncle Mike/Uncle Joey (“Full House”)

Other uncle who makes jokes and does impressions all the time.

Me/Leslie Knope (“Parks and Recreation”)

Due to love of waffles and excitement levels. About everything.

Okay. My imagination is sore now. I hope everyone has a beautiful day! A little verse to remember:

“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

-Colossians 3:2 (NIV)