Baking soda faith

Baking soda is a wonderful leavening agent.  When combined with moisture and an acidic ingredient, its power is unleashed and baked products rise.  When combined only with moisture…not a lot happens.  When combined with just an acid, not much happens either.  It has to be a combination of all these factors.  For the most part, when I am baking, I don’t have to wonder if the baking soda will do its job.  If I present the right conditions, it will work.  If I don’t bake much and the baking soda gets stale, it loses its effectiveness.  I can still use it though.  I can go into the fridge to absorb odors.  Not a very glamorous job, but as a secondary use, it can still be effective.

Baking soda and our Christian walk have a lot of similarities.  First, it is important to keep things fresh and add the right ingredients.  This may take the form of an active prayer life, time studying the Bible, and attending church. Just like adding baking soda to some flour and an egg or two won’t produce the results that you want, having a faith that is devoid of the things that will make it grow won’t produce good results. With the right approach to faith, we don’t have hope that things will work out.  We can have the confidence that comes with knowing that God is directing our steps.

Baking soda that is left on the shelf goes stale.  Likewise, faith that is put on the shelf goes stale.  If it is not used, it loses its effectiveness.  That doesn’t mean that God can’t still use you, but the primary purpose that He had planned for you, may not become a reality.  Think about the people and situations that may not have God’s blessing because you are just sitting on the shelf.  If you choose later to get off the shelf, you may find yourself being used in a way that you know isn’t as effective  as a result of choices that you made when God wanted you to follow His plan for your life.

Take your faith off of the shelf.  Add the things that are needed to make it vital and alive.  Use your life for the purpose that God intended.  

There’s nothing like the real thing

During a conversation with one of my Baking classes last week, a student asked if we could make the muffins that they sell in gas stations, because they were sooooo good.  I had to explain a couple of things to the class. Number one, those muffins have the texture and flavor of cake more than muffins.  Number two, those muffins are mass produced and would be very difficult to duplicate in a classroom situation.  After the discussion, I started to feel sad for my students.  I don’t think many of them had ever tasted a muffin that was made from scratch. They had been led to believe that gas station muffins were the real thing.  I wondered if they had ever tasted a biscuit that didn’t come out of a tube.  Had they ever experienced bread, hot from the oven?  Had they ever had the intoxicating smell of baked goods wafting through their home? It saddened me that as a society, our tastes have been so diluted that we accept things like gas station muffins, Ramen noodles, and instant pudding as haute cuisine.

We have also done that in other areas of life.  What presents itself as a  loving relationship is in actuality just a poor imitation of the intimacy that a true, deep relationship should be.  Why then do we lower our standards to accept poor imitations?  Are we so desperate for anything that we settle?  Have we been so misguided that we can’t even recognize what the real thing is?

Our relationship with God is no different at times.  We settle for a poor imitation of a relationship with Him. We base our faith on whether or not we are “feeling” it.  In reality, faith has God as the focus, not our feelings.  Sure, a moving song, a well worded prayer, or an inspiring sermon can be beneficial and can produce those feelings that we want, but they are a poor substitute for a real, honest, and thriving relationship with God.  The kind of relationship that allows for faith when the feelings aren’t there.  The kind of relationship that causes us to fall on our face before Him and cry when there are no words.  The kind of relationship that is quiet and hears His voice gently telling us trust Him.  The kind of faith that requires us to do His will when we don’t feel it, when we don’t understand it, and when it’s not convenient. 

Don’t settle for poor imitations.  Whether it’s food, love, or faith, refine your tastes so that you aren’t satisfied unless it’s the real thing.