Christmas Cookies
5For this very
reason, make every effort to add to your faith
goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing
measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them,
he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from
his past sins.
10Therefore, my
brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if
you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a
rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This little cookie has so many
wonderful ingredients. It reminds me of one of those square 7 layer treats that
is so good, you have to nibble because you just can’t handle a full bite! From
FAITH to LOVE and all of the other layers in between this cookie has got it
all. You see God gave us promises. Those promises help us to be participants in
His divine nature. By participating in His agenda we can escape corruption,
i.e. all of the evil and dark things of this world. Evil desires will not have
a hold on us because we will not even be in the same place as they are. If we
POSSESS these qualities we are going to succeed! Recipes are used for a reason…because we can forget
ingredients and to forget something could be damaging to the end result. In the
same way you and I must make certain that all of these things get into our life
every day.
Faith is necessary…without it God is not pleased. But
faith without works…is dead. Goodness…being
a good person is a wonderful characteristic but without knowledge, self-control
and perseverance, good will not be
good enough. Godliness…living a
godly life is incredible but without being
kind and loving your brothers and
sisters in Christ (and those not yet in Christ), without love we just go
through the motions. All of the
ingredients must be added in the proper measure to produce the “cookie” that
you like to eat. And the thing about this spiritual Christmas Cookie: it is
part of the mixture that allows you to keep being effective and productive and
pleasing to those in your circle of influence.
So follow me here: the promises
of God are given to you so that through them you can participate in the plan
that God has for you. That plan has a recipe…a deep dish of faith and seven
layers: seven ingredients that must be measured out and thoroughly blended
together. By doing so we escape corruption and evil desires because we are
walking in a different direction. When the mixture is ready, all that remains
is subjecting it to the heat for some time and allow the heat to bring complete
the process. The heat does not hurt them…it shapes them. Heat brings out the
best in our Christmas Cookies. In life it’s the heat, the trials and the tests
that should bring out the best in us too! We should continue to rise…to be
effective…to be producers. As my mom’s cookies would bake the house would be
filled with the aroma of what she was baking. The longer they baked, the more I
craved what was coming. I would look forward to the bell that signaled the
heating time was over and now they were ready. She would take them out, line
them up on wax paper or a cooling tray and then we would wait with anticipation
for a moment or two before we began enjoying the tasty treats.
**Cookie #1 from the book Christmas Cookies: Edible Treats for Your Body and Soul
