It’s birthday time for one of our grandchildren. I so enjoy
baking and decorating cakes for each one. Over the years I’ve made some
interesting ones. From Barbie dresses to swimming pools to Angry birds. Some
have been more challenging than others.
This year’s cake for Caleb will be a dinosaur cake. Not a hard project, but will require some
steady handwork and hopefully the dinosaur will be recognized as one when Caleb
sees it! The biggest problem with this cake has been ingredients! I keep forgetting
one thing or another. When we go to the local discount shopping store to get
ingredients there’s always a dozen or so people we have to talk to. I get
sidetracked and then first thing you know, I’ve forgotten something. Last night about 2am I laughed out loud and
said, “Danny we forgot the eggs!” So first thing this morning we will have to
go get eggs. Can’t make a cake without eggs and have it turn out the way we
want it to be.
We all want a tasty life don’t we? We want things to turn out
right, have pleasant days and for all to look good. Asking Jesus to become Lord of our lives is
the primary ingredient for a good life. Without Christ we are cooking on our
own. No matter how you slice it, life will not turn out right without Christ’s
touch on it. But there’s more to the
Christian life than just salvation. If we want things to flow smoothly and be
rich and flavorful, we have to look to God’s Word for the ingredients.
We’ve got to look to God’s Word and live by it. Reading a recipe won’t do a thing will it? It’s
the putting together of the ingredients that makes for a recipe turning out
right. It’s living the Christian life and learning to pursue righteousness and
live for God that turns things out right for us. We begin with basic Christianity and then we
add many ingredients throughout our lives: loving God, right living, fruits of
the spirit, and more. There are the gifts that God gives each one of us. As
cakes don’t all taste alike, lives aren’t all exactly alike. God gives
different gifts, so that the Church (the body not the building) is flavorful
and palatable. We all have gifts from speaking to teaching to art and poetry
and writing and more. Those gifts, used in the right way, flavor our lives and
the lives of those around us.
Oh beloved, maybe you’ve given your heart to Jesus, but you
never knew there were ingredients involved in living a life as a completely
committed follower of Him. Run to His Word this morning and see! Every Word of
God is for you to take and ingest it spiritually so you can live it out
physically. He knows your life and He
knows you intimately, so He wants to give you a more abundant life and to give
you purpose for this day. Let Him show
you the ingredients and use them liberally for it’s in living for Jesus that we
find our greatest creativity. This is how the ingredients of our lives make for
a beautiful presentation to Him. He loves you beloved, so He hasn’t left you to
your own devices. And He’s for you beloved, so He’s freely giving all
ingredients for a blessed life to you – nothing costs, nothing has to be left
out, all is freely given through Christ Himself. Rejoice as you work the recipe of your life
out for your good and His glory!
Colossians 1:18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He
is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the way of
life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living
with You forever.
2 Peter 1:5-7 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.
Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral
excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient
endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and
godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for
everyone.
Colossians 1:10 Then the way you live will always honor and
please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the
while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
Romans 8:28 And
we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to His purpose.
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