Day 204 - Becoming a 'Master Chef' of Faith & Life
📖Daily Reading
Matthew 3-4
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
Mark 4: 21-24
Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a strand, where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the ope, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with earth to hear should listen and understand.” Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given - and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching more understanding will e given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken as way from them.
Ok, hang with me because I am going to use my own parable to talk about a few parables within Mark chapters 3-4. I love to cook, I came from a family of people who love to cook. I love to eat too 🤪. That might be for another day though. The other story I am going to include is found in chapter three where Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath. There is a man there with an injured hand. There are also Jesus’s ‘enemies’ there who are are watching and just waiting for Jesus to break a rule so they can catch him and have something to go to the authorities with to bring charges against him. He addresses them, because he knows that they are watching and what they are thinking. In chapter 3 vs. 4 “Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save a life or destroy it?”
Ok back to my analogy of learning to cook and becoming a master chef and how that can be similar to our faith walk. Growing up in a family of good cooks and what I consider chefs I learned a lot by watching. I also learned what it was like to be fed with love and really good tasting food with lots of flavor and complexity. When I moved out on my own and then had to learn to cook for myself. I had to rely on recipes and lots of phone calls to check my understanding and get some tips and guidance. In the effort of cooking, shopping, putting ingredients together and following recipes I gained knowledge, competence and confidence.
I don’t think this is all that different than us as new believers and spiritual seekers, we need rules, structure and teacher to give us a good foundation as we grow in our own competence and understanding.
The next phase of growing as a cook is too see and pay attention how flavors and ingredients interact together. If I am growing in my understanding then I can start to veer off the recipe and start adding my own ingredients, playing with ratios, and using substitutes. For example if I see a great recipes for lemon garlic chicken with pasta and I have most of what I need but not all and I can’t get to the store. I have a choice here, if I am too much of a ‘rule’ follower and a perfectionist I might just give up and go to my freezer or order take out. But if I have been paying attention and growing in the skill of cooking. Then I understand that lemon is to add and ‘acidic’ flavor profile. I can look at see what I have and maybe use vinegar. I can still cook a very good meal that will be still have the essential qualities of the recipe that inspired me.
If I keep growing in my proficiency, understanding and confidence I might even get adventurous enough and inspired enough to create my own recipes with ingredients on hand. This is exciting and nourishing. I can really feed myself and others well because I get what it means to cook for myself and how ingredients interact with each other . I ‘get’ the heart of cooking, I become fearless and I can venture off of recipes with confidence and love. I also am not afraid to make mistakes. In experimenting if I add too much salt, acid or garlic I will know and I will be able to view this as a learning opportunity and I will do better next time.
This is what reading the Bible and not reading scholars, teachers, devotions and other reflections is allowing me to do in my own faith walk. I am veering off the recipes, I am in the kitchen and playing with ingredients, I am allowing myself to make mistakes, I am after the skill and the heart of ‘cooking’ and becoming a master chef with my faith and with the ultimate goal to be able to LOVE people better, not be a better or even ‘good’ ‘Christian’ what ever that word even means?
Jesus was not a christian and he did not call us to be Christians, he said come follow me, I am the way, the truth and the life. His way was life giving through love, not in following rules. If your faith has not grown past trying to be ‘good’ enough by following church rules, you are living on take out and processed doctrine from others, I invite you to set your faith free and get into the kitchen and cook for yourself. But whatever you do don’t just take my word for it, open it for yourself and ponder it, ‘cook’ your faith with it, eat it, digest it and be nourished and transformed. In order to own your faith you have to read the living word 📖 for yourself and seek understanding from the living God with the help of the Holy Spirit.
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
How does this resonate with you? Are you following someone else's 'recipe' in your faith life too closely, that you aren't learning how to be your own chef?
📖Tomorrows Reading
Mark 5
Coaching Opportunity
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