08/10/2018 - In the Kitchen with God, and the Recipe of Relationship
Before we come to that point in our faith in which we understand that our relationship with God and Jesus Christ is what is of paramount importance, we seek the ancillary things pertaining to the promises in God’s Word. We search for such mysterious ingredients as knowledge, wisdom, eternal life, power, joy, and peace, but in doing so we are like any child who prefers eating the icing over the cake. We see those things that are the fruits of an intimate relationship and mistake them for its purpose.
“pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 ESV
When we first begin our journey of faith we are seeking the heavenly recipe that is contained in God’s Word. We are looking to perfect our ability to do those things that will produce a beautiful spiritual cake covered with eternity’s icing, and then once we think we have made the cake we begin to adorn it with intricate designs, and the candles of knowledge, wisdom, power, and such. But all along what God really wants us to understand is something much more intimate; He wants us to come to know the chef whose cake we are seeking to imitate, His desire is not for us to simply make the cake ourselves, but to enjoy the one He has already set before us. So he gives us instructions like “pray without ceasing” to lead us in our understanding. Andrew Murray touched on this when he wrote...
“He who seeks to pray without ceasing simply because he wants to be very pious, will never attain to it. It is by forgetting oneself and yielding one’s life to live for God and His honor that the heart is enlarged to know the light of God and His will.” - Andrew Murray
In years past I watched from the den as my wife and her mother prepared meals together in the kitchen. I listened while they talked back and forth, laughing, and discussing the best ways to do certain things as they prepared the meal. The meal would be wonderful, and to a visitor it might appear to be the object of their efforts, but it wasn’t; the object was much deeper, it was being there together, and serving their family.
Years have passed, and Ann’s mother has gone to be with the Lord, but Ann still prepares the meals just as her mother taught her, and the recipes are still the same. The food is amazing, and the steps she has memorized aid her in preparing it, but the real reason she continues to cook as she does is because the smell of it, the steps by which she prepares it, and ultimately the taste of it, all take her back to those wonderful times in her mother’s kitchen, and bring those memories to life. You see, it was more about the relationship, and all the incredible aromas and wonderful flavors were just byproducts of what was happening between them as they worked.
We worry so much about being able to bake the cake, and to follow the recipe, that we forget why God has asked us to do these things which He has included in His Word. He isn’t teaching us to make the perfect cake... He is leading us to that place where we can know Him, the chef. Praying without ceasing is a conversation, and this is one of the most important parts of any relationship. You see, baking a perfect cake isn’t the goal because after all God has already provided us with the perfect cake and delivered it to His table by the nail scared hands and feet of Jesus Christ.
If we come into the kitchen to love God, and allow that love to bring us into relationship with Him, then praying will be a joy, and praying without ceasing will come naturally... it will no longer be something we will be concerned about being able to do. If we have fully entered into this relationship then praying without ceasing will no longer be a step in the recipe, but rather will teach us more about the depth and the love of God, the chef.
Without the relationship then ceaseless praying sounds like a daunting task to us, and so do the other things we are asked by Paul to do...
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 ESV
These things sound so hard, but, once we have placed our relationship with God and Jesus before all else, then these are the things we see the Father and Son doing, and we will live by them because they will remind us of our relationship, and will have become a part of us.
At this point in our journey of faith we will know the Father because we will have watched Him bake the perfect cake. Then suddenly in epiphany we will realize that our learning to bake that cake by ourselves was never the point... it was being in the kitchen with the chef of all creation, and growing a deep and loving relationship with Him. At that moment the cake, the icing, the intricate decorations, and the candles, will all be there, and we will enjoy eating it as we talk about the wonderful pilgrimage we have made together through the kitchen. As we sit there discussing the preparations, and sipping coffee as we eat, we will realize that all the things we had hoped for when we first believed have come to pass. They were given to us during our precious times in the kitchen with God and His Son.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your instruction and commandments, but most of all Father, I thank you for the time, the conversation in prayer, and the love between us, as you have led me to understand them... and know you. I thank you Father for inviting me to your table where I can taste the perfect goodness of your grace and mercy. I can’t prepare these things for myself Holy Father, but my understanding of them has brought me into a closer relationship with you and Jesus Christ. Oh for the day when I can see your face and hold the nail scared hand of Jesus as He prays over this meal. Help me to find enjoyment and fulfillment in doing your will Father, and to experience the work in you kitchen as a blessing to be cherished throughout eternity. Let the joy and peace of a meal with you give me great satisfaction, and bring to remembrance every moment we have spent together. You are a great God, and provide for me mightily. Holy, Holy, Holy, are your my God, with whom my relationship is a blessing that knows no end.
Rich Forbes