Recipe for Life 2

Matthew 5:23-24

One of the many kitchen tips submitted last week was the advice to “Clean up the messes you make.” It is a statement about consideration. No one else should have to tend to the mess you have left behind. But it is also a statement about responsibility. You should be the one who puts things back to where they should be.

Following that line of thinking led me to the passage in Matthew. What situation is presented here? What should we do if there is a problem? Then what are we free to do?

Jesus addresses a matter of faith in this example. If you are attending to worship – in this case making an offering at the temple – but you realize there is a problem between yourself and another, you should first reconcile the problem. Then you may attend to your worship.

Why is this a problem? I believe that God wants a pure relationship with Him. We need to go before God with a pure heart and a holy attitude. If we are in conflict with others – if we have made a mess somewhere – we need to clean up our mess. We need to resolve our differences with others, patch things up, make amends, restore our earthly relationships.

Then, when we no longer have any distractions in our lives, no problems, no ill feelings, we can focus completely on God. Our heart and minds can be holy and centered on our worship.

This is a statement that worship is more than simply the actions, the rituals of those who worship. True worship comes from the heart. True worship is more about our attitude and intention and not about the show or material part of church.

If we will have a rich and fulfilling experience in our times of worship, if we will present God with the proper attitude in our times of praise, we must first be certain we have no problems which need to be addressed. And we are the ones responsible for this; no one else.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Is there a mess that requires your attention?

Recipe for Life 1

Proverbs 22:6

In preparation for our Mother’s Day service we have asked people to submit their “kitchen tips,” helpful hints and suggestions, teachings, on how to do things in the kitchen. These wonderful ideas can be transferred into Biblical teachings, suggestions and directions on how to live good and Godly lives.

So, today we look at a familiar passage from Proverbs. What should we do? What is the result?

At first glance the passage may seem to apply only to parents. After all, only a parent has children to train. But I believe this passage, and others, applies to all those who obey God. We are told to train or teach others in the ways of living good and holy lives.

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus offers final instructions to his disciples and part of that instruction is to teach others. There are many references to teaching throughout the New Testament, and Colossians 3:16 speaks about teaching and admonishing “one another with all wisdom.”

I believe it is part of our duty as Christians to be teachers. We may not stand in front of a classroom or behind a pulpit, but we can all teach. We may not read from a textbook or make notes on a chalkboard, but we can all present lessons.

We can teach by sharing advice. We can teach by helping others understand the Biblical lessons and Biblical principals that apply to life. And we can teach by being living examples of what it means to have faith, to share God’s love, to be holy, to be good, to be giving.

Whether or not you are a parent you should train a child in God’s ways. Whether the child is young or an older “child” of God, you can teach about God’s love.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What lesson about God can you teach someone?