“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man to takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8).
I was searching for some recipes for Christmas cookies and scrolled through some offerings from one of my go-to recipe sites. I saw a cookie recipe that looked particularly yummy. It called for all the basic ingredients: flour, sugar, nuts, cocoa, and shortening. I always check out the comments to see if others liked them and the first comment was: “I don’t like to use shortening. I’m using butter instead.” The original recipe poster replied: “It won’t turn out right with butter. It will flatten out in the oven. Only shortening will allow it to retain its round shape and texture.”
There is a “recipe” for a godly life. The ingredients haven’t changed in thousands of years: Jesus Christ, the Word of God, prayer, faith, fellowship, and obedience. But like our baker friend, we often try to substitute ingredients in the original recipe. A five-minute devotional won’t produce the same flavor as investing time in the Bible. Love for God can’t be replaced with love of self. Complaining to your friends is a poor substitute for prayer. Watching that “adult” T.V. show that’s just a little spicy will never produce holiness. Following worldly wisdom instead of godly wisdom will cause us to go flat in the heat of life. Compromising at work doesn’t have the same consistency as integrity. Sundays on the ball field rather than God’s house means children don’t rise properly. Still, we mix it all up in the same way and bake it for the same amount of time. Then we’re surprised that we don’t get the same result.
If you want the cookie to turn out right, you have to follow the recipe. If you want life to turn out right, you have to follow the Word and the ways of God. Beloved, there’s just no substitute for Him.
Deeper Roots 