With Thanksgiving in our rearview mirror, we are now officially in the holiday season! While turkey leftovers languish in the fridge, many cooks begin to turn their fury on cookie baking for the next few weeks.
Cookies are wonderful creations. Not big enough to qualify as a cake and just the right size for a snack, they occupy an important place on the food pyramid, platter, or whatever graphic is now in vogue. I know I like them on my plate, but in my mouth even better.
Cookies also come in a variety of species. Aside from the good old standby Chocolate Chip, there’s molasses, snickerdoodles, ginger snaps, peanut butter drops, gingerbread, shortbread, and a million more. People who don’t like one variety can certainly find ten more that they do.
Recipes for cookies are as varied as the delicacies themselves, but most all involve some salt, sugar, milk, and butter. The varying amounts of these along with the addition of other unique ingredients are responsible for the wide diversity of deliciousness cookies provide.
Most of the common ingredients are fairly mundane or even distasteful if consumed alone. No one enjoys a large dose of salt or even a big glob of cinnamon. It’s the right amount of each and the correct procedures used along with the chemical transformation that takes place in the heat of the oven that produces the treats we love so much.
The common task of cookie making reminds us of the recipe for success. Virtually no one enjoys long hours of hard work or varying doses of self-discipline. Perseverance and honesty are sometimes very distasteful but vitally important to produce a lifestyle that honors God and blesses others. In fact, such mixtures usually result in outcomes that can be delicious in many ways.
In addition, most individuals we consider to be successful have also endured some time in their own ovens of trial. Disappointment, rejection, failure, illness, and other degrees of testing have had an almost magical way of transforming their souls into something wonderful if they so allow. It’s not automatic and many resist this uncomfortable process, but those who submit to it and are determined to learn from it can emerge from this oven stronger and more blessed.
In the Christian life, success is synonymous with holiness. The goal of each follower of Jesus should be to become like Him. It is a lifelong process and one that requires constant attention. It also needs the involvement of the Divine Cook, AKA the Holy Spirit, to sanctify and remake us in Jesus’ image.
Unlike the lifeless ingredients in the mixing bowl, however, we can choose to cooperate with the Cook or resist His work. We can object when the bitter components are thrown into our lives and fight against them, failing to realize they are the very items that will create the best taste combinations.
Even more painful are the heated trials that come our way. Hebrews 12:11, however, reminds us that, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Although each Christian is as unique as the differing Christmas cookies available, the same delicious Christ-like flavor should characterize each of us. That is only possible if we are willing to become the holy creations God has formed us to be. May we submit to His work in our lives and reflect Him now and always.
Enjoying the cookies! George