Daily Devotional for April 8, 2015

Psalm 119:20-24
What I want most of all
and at all times
    is to honor your laws.
You punish those boastful,
worthless nobodies
    who turn
    from your commands.
Don’t let them sneer
and insult me
    for following you.
I keep thinking about
    your teachings, Lord,
    even if rulers plot
    against me.
Your laws are my greatest joy!
    I follow their advice.

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO.  All rights reserved.

Two of my favorite television shows are "MasterChef"…and especially "MasterChef Junior".  This program has featured “future chefs” as young as age eight who can cook gourmet dishes that would rival those prepared in a 5-star restaurant.

Now here’s the thing…I consider myself to be an okay cook. And there are dishes that I know how to make without a recipe.  But this program puts cooks in a kitchen and says, “Make XYZ”.  They have no recipe…sometimes they don’t even have a basic collection of ingredients…and they have to gather their items “from scratch” in the “Master Chef Pantry”.  So obviously, before this program aired, these home cooks spent hours/days/weeks/months – or even YEARS – studying cookbooks and recipes, practicing in their home kitchens, and memorizing the ingredients and steps in a vast array of culinary creations.

On each season of these programs, there always tends to be at least one cook who thinks he/she knows more than the others.  This person is sometimes a “renegade” of sorts who feels that the regular rules don’t apply to him/her.  The instructions call for a dish to be done a certain way, but “I’m going to give it my own twist,” the cook will announce.  This person seems to almost sneer at the others for being so literal…or he/she will make fun of the way another cook performs tasks...and/or call out the competitor’s apparent lack of knowledge or ability in a certain area.  But almost to a person, this sort of behavior has backfired.

The old adage that “slow and steady wins the race” applies in many situations.  And slow and steady faithfulness to God’s word and the teachings of Jesus will take you places as a Christian!  Don’t get bogged down by those who want to tell you that their way is better – or that your ideas and opinions are wrong, just because they are different from the other guy’s.  Listen to God and follow what He sows into your heart.  Trust His teachings…make sure your words and actions line up with scripture, and let the others make a mess of things if they choose.

I could never be a Master Chef…probably not even with my cookbooks and recipes. Certainly nobody would want to eat what I prepared!  And I can’t be the Christian disciple that God has called me to be without His word and teachings.  I trust Him to walk with me every day and guide my steps…and I’m doing all I can to listen for His voice – often above the din and distraction of others’.  What about you?

©2015 Debbie Robus