I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” (Psalm 16:2)
Last Sunday we were invited to a friend’s home for lunch. Moved by the invitation, I decided to bake them a cake as a way of saying thank-you. Glancing at my countertop, a couple of ripe bananas caught my eye and I made a quick decision to bake a banana cake. I got to work in the kitchen right away – prompted by the reaction I was expecting to see on my friend’s face as she took the first bite.
Having been too occupied to talk to my parents the whole day, I decided to video call them as I prepared the cake batter. As we spoke, I measured out the dry ingredients into one bowl and whisked all the wet ingredients in another. Halfway through preparing the batter, Joseph, my three-year-old, came to inspect how things were coming along and attempted to help. I kept him busy by asking him to sample a couple of the cashew nuts I had set aside to put in the cake.
As Joseph entertained his grandparents over the phone, I poured the batter into the cake pan. My father, who was laughing at Joseph’s antics, looked at the batter and remarked, “Don’t you think that’s a little too thick? I think it must be smoother.” Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I thought to myself, I’ve never seen daddy bake a cake in my entire life. What could he possibly know about cake batter? I replied to my father, “It’s fine, daddy. I’ve done this so many times, I couldn’t go wrong even if I tried”. Despite my explanation, my father didn’t look convinced. I quickly scrapped the last spoonfuls of batter into the cake pan and proceeded to put it in the oven to bake and set the timer for one hour.
A short while later, my parents hung up after saying their goodbyes to Joseph and I got started on preparing dinner for the kids. As the timer indicated that half the time had passed, I peered into the oven, and casually remarked to my husband, “You know, the cake batter doesn’t look like it usually does. But I am sure it’s alright. I was particularly careful today”. He looked thoughtful for a second and then cautiously asked, “Did you remember to add bananas?”
My reaction was immediate. Disbelief spread across my face as I sunk to the nearest chair with my hands on my forehead. How could I possibly have forgotten to add bananas in a banana cake? What am I going to take to my friend’s home tomorrow? Why couldn’t I have taken my father’s warning about the batter seriously? Needless to say, the cake didn’t turn out well and is still waiting to be salvaged as I write.
There is much that we can learn from my unfortunate mistake in baking a banana cake without bananas. Let us take a moment to be honest with ourselves and reflect on some questions. Are we attempting to lead a Christian life without giving Christ the place of honor in our hearts? Can we honestly say that Christ is the quintessence of our lives? Are our day-to-day decisions centered in the bedrock of our relationship with Christ?
If we are honest, we would admit that more often than not, our interests (however well-meaning and wholesome) tend to occupy us to such an extent that it leads us to attempt to live our life without God. How many of us are guilty of starting our day with a half-hearted prayer and a glance at our phone to read the “verse of the day” on our Bible app? In the fast-paced society that we are so familiar with, our relationship with God takes the brunt of our preoccupation with the things of this world. Martin Luther once said, “I have so much to do today that I’m going to need to spend three hours in prayer in order to be able to get it all done”. Can we honestly say that spending time with God is our first response when we are overwhelmed with the burden of our weaknesses and with the cares of the world? When we unintentionally take Christ out of the equation and attempt to accomplish everything by leaning on our own strength and understanding, we become “someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).
Every day we are bombarded by e-mails, messages, news reports, social media, advertisements, relationships, duties, and commitments that fight for our attention. Satan’s go-to method to keep us from seeking the things of the Kingdom is to keep us constantly engaged with seemingly “pressing issues” that require our immediate attention. We tend to forget the warning of Jesus in Luke 21: 34-35 to “be on guard so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth“.
Satan doesn’t always have to tempt us to cause us to sin – he knows that the battle is half won if he is successful in turning our attention to anything apart from Jesus. Just think about it – the two most important events in the history of the world is the birth of Jesus and His resurrection. Christmas and Easter are the days set apart to celebrate and reflect upon the humility, love, and the victory of Christ over death. Instead of hearts filled with gratitude, lifted hands, and shouts of praise, the focus has been shifted to Christmas trees, last-minute panic shopping, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies, and the like. However, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that these traditions are worthless as they provide us with a starting point to share our faith with others, and to make known to them that “He is before all things, and in him, all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). When we stay focused on Jesus, everything else falls into its rightful place.
Time and again, we lose focus on our goal and we gravitate towards ideas and activities that seem perfectly reasonable to us. We find new reasons to justify our lack of prayer and risk growing more dependent on things other than God. When this occurs, God in His mercy sends us many reminders to nudge us back on the right course. Had I listened to my father’s word of caution and paused to think of what went wrong, I would have ended up with a delicious cake. In the same way, God can choose to speak to us through any means. It might be through His Word, our spouse, our children, a program on the television, or even a donkey (Numbers 22:28)! If we choose to lend our hearts and ears to what God has to say, we will see that a simple act of obedience has the potential to change the very course of our lives.
Let us never forget that the primary goal of a Christian is to become more like Christ. To achieve this, we must constantly strive to keep our hearts and minds focused on Jesus, who said “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Let me encourage you today by reminding you of the lyrics to a well-known hymn written by Helen H. Lemmel:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1,2). Let us be wise in the way we choose to spend our time. Let us endeavor to be people of purpose and make conscious decisions every day – to place Christ front and center in every area of our lives. Although this is easier said than done, we can be sure of victory when we put our hope in God since it is He who “works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
12 comments
Banana cake!!! Good reminder to keep Christ in center of evrythg…
God speaks in mysterious ways! 😉
How true!
🙂
Good thoughts!learned IMPORTANT is CHRIST
God bless you all
Amen.
Gosh I needed to be reminded of this today!
🙂
This is a reminder I need every day! May we keep him at the center of all things – all the time, everywhere we go!
Amen.
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