A Recipe of Sorts

It was a cool summer evening tonight; a rarity for August in Riverside. My mom sent me a text earlier in the evening asking if I wanted to use her 2-for-1 coupon for frozen yogurt (or fro yo as I like to call it).

So we made our way to the Plaza. During our evening, I asked if we could go to Borders. I love clearance sections. I was happily perusing the marked down stationary when I noticed my mother had meandered over to the clearance cookbooks. I have seen this scenario before. Inevitably she will purchase one or two. She must own three or four dozen by now. I, myself, have seen her purchase books, such as: Easy Crockpot Meals, Italian Appetizers, Desserts, and tonight's Paul Deen Cookbook.

Here's the thing. My mom does not cook. Not a lick.

Case in point. I remember when I was 8 or so and I was so ecstatic that my mom was cooking dinner. I lowered my head to look through the thick glass oven door. I remember being literally in awe as I watched the cheese bubbling. What was this culinary creation, you ask? Nachos. Yep, she took out a backing sheet, threw chips on it and covered them with cheddar cheese.

Now there is nothing inherently wrong with this; some women aren't gifted cooks. Many families survive on the convenient meals stores offer. In this season of my life, I am more apt to cook some pasta and italian sausage and smother it with canned spaghetti sauce than to craft a gourmet dinner from scratch. But, I am not out purchasing cookbooks by the droves either.

Here was the connection, or reminder that God gave me this evening: Just as owning countless cookbooks does not make someone a cook, nethier does owning a Bible make someone a genuine follower of Jesus.

Someone who wants to cook will need to have a recipe, the right ingredients and follow the exact instructions. Even then, sometimes the end product is not what we anticipated (maybe we forget an ingredient or a step; possibly overcook it). But, we try again in hopes of replicating the recipe.

Someone who wants to follow Jesus will need to accept him as Savior and follow his teachings. Even then, sometimes the end product is not what we anticipated (maybe we forget we live in a broken world; possibly overlook Him). But, because of grace we get a 'do over'.

I have a feeling there will be more for me to learn from this, but not tonight.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24

It is my prayer that we aren't just collectors of the Word, but doers! (See James 1:22-24).