Where are the spices?

Maybe it's because I am a nutritionist. Maybe it's because I really love food. What ever the reason, God speaks to me, quite often, in food analogies.

Case in point...

Yesterday afternoon Pastor Dino shared a scripture from Luke 2: 42-45. It is the story of when Mary and Joseph took Jesus and went to Jerusalem for Passover. Let me set the scene...the ENTIRE Jewish community came to Jerusalem for the Passover. It was a HUGE deal...tons of people...tons of commotion...tons of noise and activity. After the party died down they headed back home with their caravan, but there was a problem. A problem that took them a while to notice...Jesus wasn't with them. It was a whole day before Mary and Joseph realized that their son was missing. They searched the caravan, and then started back to Jerusalem to find him. It was 3 whole days before they could locate him.

Most of the time, when people teach on this scripture they focus on the fact that Mary was probably a basket case, Joseph was probably angry at Jesus for running off, and then they talk about how Jesus replied to his earthly parents that he was about his Father's business.

Well...Pastor took another approach. He focused on the part of the passage that says, "..the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it." Luke 2:43

How many times have I moved on and left Jesus behind? How many times have I gotten ahead of Him but not even realized he wasn't with me? How many times have I assumed that He would bless me just because he blessed me before? Ouch, right?

So how does this relate to food?? haha...only my mind could make that connection! Here goes... We all took a few minutes to pray after Pastor shared that word with us, and this is what God spoke to my heart.

There are basically 2 kinds of eaters in this world. Those that eat because they have to...you know they focus on putting in just what the body needs to function and they could really care less about flavor...it is all about function and efficiency. Then there are the people who enjoy eating...it is like an event. They create food, they take time to prepare menus and meals and they invite other people into the mix and enjoy the food together.

Well God called me out. He said...you used to dine with me...and now you only swallow a few bites because you know that without food you will die. Wow. I do know that without God I would die, and that is true...but there is a difference between spending time with Him in relationship and just going through the motions without enjoyment.

So I am challenged to return to my first love. To correct the drift of my heart and realign with Him. To foster a relationship with my King, to nurture it, to love it, to be intentional with it, to cultivate it. Revelation 2:3-4 says, "You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. But I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love." It doesn't matter if we suffer for Christ, it doesn't matter if we do all of the "right" things on the outside if we have forgotten to love Jesus on the inside. If we have turned our backs on him, we have missed the whole point.

Let's do this together, shall we? Let's realign ourselves with Him. Let's rekindle the love we had for Him...like it's the first day we were saved from sin. Let's spice up the relationship.