“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. John 10:10b (KJV)
Do you remember being in the kitchen when your mother baked a cake? You watched as she carefully added the ingredients into a bowl and then stirred them with a whisk, an electric mixer, or, depending on your age, a wooden spoon. She may let you grease the pan or ensure the oven was on, and you were eager to do so because you wanted to help get that cake in the oven as soon as possible. When the cake was baking, the smell would waft throughout the house, playing with your senses, teasing and creating anticipation of what was to come.
God offers something extraordinary for those who choose to be faithful disciples of Christ. A true disciple believes in Jesus’ teachings and seeks to learn more about them, applying them to their life. They want to know Jesus through a relationship with Him and desire to share Him with others. The reward for true disciples is adoption into God’s family and eternal life with Him. There will be a time when God will bring about the new heaven and new earth. Until then, His children eagerly anticipate the return of Jesus, but not without tasting and experiencing some of the good He has to offer. Jesus spoke of a time to come when all of creation would be reconciled to God and brought back to the state God intended. However, He also said we can experience a taste of the Kingdom to come now. We are offered the joys of a relationship with Jesus and the power and wisdom to live out every day with hope on this sometimes-troublesome planet. He says we can be changed and experience fruit from our relationship, which comes in the form of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
While the cake was baking, you were often given the chance to taste something good while waiting for something even better. There were spoons or beaters to lick for those who chose to stay beside their mother, listen to her instructions, and help prepare the cake. God offers something now while we await eternity, and He wants you to have and recognize His grace and blessings daily while you wait for eternity’s call.
Robert Frost’s poem A Road Not Taken ends with these words: “I took the one (road) less travelled by, And that has made all the difference”. Jesus reminds us that the road leading to God is also less travelled, but the rewards at the end are beyond our comprehension, and it will make all the difference in this life and the life to come. Choose life with God.