In between watching the 2012 Olympics games, I watched an episode of Top Chef-Just Desserts where the chefs were asked to make a “savor” dessert inspired by another country. One chef prepare a dish resembling a Cuban Sandwich. The beautiful plated dessert looked just like a sandwich with chips and potato salad. The “Potato Salad” was actually diced Asian pears sprinkled with vanilla beans to resemble pepper. It was so creative. As the judges bit into the sandwich, the creme topping that looked like mayonnaise oozed out the sides and became very messy. The filling overpowered the other components. The chef put too much in the sandwich. It looked good on the outside, but when the “test” the sandwich did not hold.
Isn’t that just like us? We spend time and energy creating our “exterior self” so it appears like a beautiful plate of good food. But there is a problem. Our execution is faulty. We add too much of this world so when the “test” comes, our beautiful but poorly designed selves starts oozing out. We overdo it; add too much, or add the wrong things trying to look good.
There needs to be the right balance of ingredients so lives not only appear beautiful, but beautifully reflect Him. That right balance is more of Jesus and less of me and you. He is the potter, we are the clay. He knows just what to do, and say. He knows our beginnings, our middle, and our ends. He understand how much we can handle, and prompts us to let Him handle our lives. Jesus said, “Come all of you who are heavy burden, and I will give you rest.” As we make our way through this life, our first order of business is to go to Christ first, and obtain instructions on how to prepare and manage for this life. Christ will provide the right ingredients in the proper proportions, and then show us how to prepare and utilize them. So when our “test” comes, and it will come, we will have just the right stuff in the right proportions for any test.
Loving God with Excellence 