I am not a cook. Even my good friends and family who love me (mostly) would not describe me as a cook. I stumble my way around the kitchen and have been known to scorch water and burn eggs. However, I have one no-fail recipe: lemon bars.
Whenever I am called to take a potluck dish to a church supper or to a school party, I take lemon bars. They are my go-to recipe. They are not heart-healthy, rich with butter and sugar, and have the perfect combination of sweet and tart.
Why am I bragging about my lemon bars? The fact is, I'm not. My lemon bars got me in trouble one day. I made a double recipe, divided them up, and took them to friends. Over-confident and perhaps a bit arrogant about my delectable dessert, I failed to taste them. (It was one of my stay-off-sugar days. It lasted precisely one day.)
The recipients gratefully accepted my offering, and I left, feeling pretty darn good about myself. It wasn't until days later that my husband accidentally found out that my lemon bars weren't very good after all. The flour I had used had turned rancid, giving the crust a nasty, metallic taste. Not wanting to hurt my feelings, my sweet friends didn't say anything to me.
The mistake was a small one and easily rectified. I bought new flour, made another batch, and delivered them. However, it set me to thinking. How many times am I over-confident and arrogant about my offerings to the Lord? How many times do I tell Him that I am giving him my all? And how many times do I fall short?
I should have tested the lemon bars to make certain they were all right. In the same way, I should test my resolve to the Lord, to doing what's right, rather than just assuming that it is good enough because I have done it that way in the past.
Like my friends, the Lord forgives me and loves me anyway.
So, for today, I am grateful for friends and the Lord who accept me and love me as I am, even when my "flour" is rancid.
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