Matthew 7:12
Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets are all about.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Last
week, we celebrated Grandma E’s 90th birthday with a “luncheon” at our
house. My mother-in-law didn’t want a big fuss, so we invited my
husband’s brother and sister-in-law to join us - and kept it simple. I
served a dish that is a local favorite…”Chicken Eden Isle.” This dish
consists of chicken breasts wrapped in bacon, sitting on top of dried
beef and baked in a sauce of cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and
sour cream. The chicken and sauce are served over a bed of rice. Since
this dish is rich and decadent, we serve it so seldom that it is a real
treat for all of us.
My mother-in-law told me that once, she
baked this recipe to enter in a chicken cooking contest. Because the
dish had to be “original,” she changed the ingredients to include curry
powder and renamed the concoction…and her recipe won! I told her that I
wasn’t sure everyone attending our lunch would like curry, so I was
going to stick with the original recipe…and she agreed that this was
best.
The “simple” recipe for Chicken Eden Isle over rice needs
no variations – unless you are entering an “original recipe” cooking
contest! It stands on its own merits and is more than complete. There
is nothing wrong with adding another spice or changing the mixture a
bit…although there is inherent risk that what is changed might make the
dish less tasty. But truly, all we need to have a complete and
delectable meal is the basic recipe for this chicken dish. And that is
what Matthew 7:12 tells us about our Christian discipleship, the teachings of Jesus, and all of the
laws and the prophecy.
Everything we read in the Old
Testament…every Law of Moses…every proverb of King Solomon…every
commandment of Jesus in the Gospels…and every admonition of the authors
of the New Testament...can be summed up in this one sentence - ”Treat
others as you
want them to treat you.” We don’t need “add-ons”…or variations. We
don’t need to try to do things another way and see if the outcome will
be as good – or even better. We know already that when we treat others
as we wish to be treated, there is every possibility that things will go
better…that the outcome will be a more positive one…that our grace,
mercy, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and understanding will rub off
on others.
Sometimes, we think that we know best. If we just do
this or say that, everything will work out great! And sometimes, our
ideas get us into a heap of trouble! If we will only remember the
“recipe” that Jesus has given us…and treat others as we want them to
treat us…God will handle any other details and make sure that the end
result is perfect. Whose “Spiritual recipe” are you using these days?
Is it time for you to simplify and let God have control? Will this be the day that you get started?
©2016 Debbie Robus
1 comment:
Beautiful!
Post a Comment