John 5:20-23
“But you haven’t seen the half of
it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates
life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither
he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to
judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the
Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was
the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor."
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.
Every
family has traditional meals or foods…”family favorites”…signature
dishes. My mother had her share – many given to her by my grandmothers,
other relatives, and friends. She passed these along to me and my
sister…and to my niece, Jasmine – her grand-daughter. Just this
morning, Jasmine told me of finding a recipe book this weekend at my
Mother’s that was clearly meant for her. It was filled with
hand-written recipes – many with notations as to who shared them or how
they were specially prepared. There were even hand-written recipe cards
from my grandmothers tucked in between the pages.
My sister
and I also have recipe books from my mother – a Christmas gift several
years ago. I treasure the hand-written recipes and the notes about a
favorite dessert for my grandmother to serve to her coffee klatch – or a
dish that Mother remembered her grandmother serving at holiday
time. We will save these books – and prepare the dishes – and make sure
that our little ones know about them and create them for generations to
come. There are no “secret recipes” in this collection. We will
gladly share every one of them with anyone who asks.
Here’s where
I am headed with this. God gave Jesus the authority to give Eternal
life to anyone He chooses…to judge who has truly committed to follow
Him… and to create new Disciples to carry on the work of furthering
God’s Kingdom. When we share the Good News of Jesus, we are carrying
out the desires of God and perpetuating His message to future
generations. In a manner of speaking, God left us a “recipe book” for
how to live and follow Him – through Jesus Christ. We are to share
these “recipes” with the world at large.
There are to be no
secrets…we are not to stockpile the Good News of Jesus for ourselves.
Eternal Life is available to all who call on the name of Jesus and carry
His Holy Spirit in their hearts. We should be ready, willing and able
to tell anyone who asks us about Jesus and what He has done for us. We
should be prepared to demonstrate His love, grace, mercy, forgiveness
and compassion at a moment’s notice. True Christian disciples should
have no trouble showing others how to walk in faith – or offering them
hope in the promises of God through His Son, Jesus.
The other
day, I made my grandmother’s “Orange Refrigerator Cake” recipe. My
mother prepared this countless times for us when I was growing up. With
every bite, I was transported back in time. Childhood memories of life
with relatively few cares or worries flooded my mind and heart…and I
was reminded of how much I was loved. As we love others with the love of
Christ and “feed His sheep,” we are reminded of how much God loves us.
We are flooded with hope and joy – peace and comfort – and assurance
that Heaven will be a glorious place!
Are you doing your part to
share the love of Jesus with others? Are you perpetuating the
“traditions” and sharing the “recipe” for Eternal Life in Christ? Are
you “feeding His sheep”…or are you selfishly keeping His Good News to
yourself? Will this be the day that you start “making memories” and
“sharing recipes” for Eternal Life with others? Don’t you think it
should be?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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