I used to make my own Trail Mix. I found a mixture of things that I really liked and would make a batch regularly. I would take some along when I went fishing with my old buddy Jim and what we didn’t eat home with him. He was always appreciative when I shared it with him. Of course, I would make enough so that there was still some at the house. After all, I made it the way I liked it.

Cheryl liked it, too, with one exception. One of the ingredients I put in my mix was butterscotch chips. Cheryl does not like butterscotch. I remember the first time I opened the pantry to get the container of trail mix out, and when I looked inside there was nothing left but butterscotch chips. When I confronted her about it she said, “I only ate the good stuff, the stuff I like.” She saw no problem with that. After having that happen a few more times, I started making a separate batch for her minus the butterscotch chips.

A lot of people try to take that approach to the Bible. They are sometimes called “Cafeteria Christians.” They pick the things they like and ignore the rest. They might say “I like the part about heaven being a free gift, but I don’t think _______ is wrong.”

You can fill in the blank with any sin that Scripture condemns. What they are actually doing in placing themselves in the position of control, the position God should occupy in their lives.

This I nothing new. As he was preparing to leave Ephesus, Paul gave a farewell address to the Elders of the church there. Here is part of what he said.

Acts 20:26–27 (ESV)  Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

Paul was not holding back. He was sharing God’s Word, identifying sin for what it is, but also sharing the answer to sin that Jesus provided for us. He spent time there trying to fill them in on what they had not heard. The whole counsel of God. He did this in the face of opposition and persecution.

Acts 20:19–20 (ESV) …serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house…

Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” (ESV) or “the whole will of God” (NIV), especially the Good News of Jesus. He shared the truth about God’s salvation. But Paul also shared the things that were hard for people to hear. He reminded them of that in the second chapter of the letter he sent to them. He said that we are dead in sin which deserves God’s wrath and condemnation (Ephesians 2:1). He pointed out that we are incapable of saving ourselves by what we do (Ephesians 2:8-9). But this was all in the context of pointing them to the one who lived a life without sin and offered that to pay our penalty, so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life.

When we hear the whole counsel of God, the Spirit is able to work in us and guide us to appreciate even more the one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.