THE COMPLETE PLAN – Part 1 of 2: God’s “Stew” of Life



     "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," Ephesians 6:11-18

     I LOVE to cook!  My favorite things to create are one-pot meals, stews and chili.   I remember the first time that I made a batch of Bigos, or Hunter’s Stew.  I looked through recipe after recipe, wanting to get this Polish dish as authentic as possible.  After finding out the necessary ingredients, I set to work.  The result of forty-five minutes of slicing, chopping, and measuring I had all the ingredients mixed together in a crock pot for a long, slow cook.  The result was spectacular!  Well, I HOPE that it was spectacular by Polish standards.  It tasted incredible, though.  Also, it was a perfect meal for those cold, wintery days.

     The reason that I love these types of one-dish meals comes down to the combination of several different ingredients.  It is an art of learning what sort of meats or vegetables goes with certain broths, herbs, and spices.  It must come together to complete the masterpiece.  Often, we may add or take away an ingredient here or there, to make it our own.  Quite frankly, I discovered my perfect chili recipe that way.  I took one recipe, that I loved, and did a little merging with my daddy’s recipe…. PERFECTO!  However, certain recipes need to be followed to the letter.

     In Ephesians, God gives us His "stew" recipe for living as faithful followers to Him:

Truth, righteousness, preparation, protection from sin, salvation, the Spirit, and the word of God. ALL of these ingredients are needed. One cannot be missed. It is the recipe that you don't dare alter, removing an ingredient or adding something totally different. Yet, it happens all around us!
Many concentrate on one part of this and forget the rest. The "stew" is incomplete. It does not contain the sustenance required by the recipe.  Some may feel that what they have is all that is needed, not realizing what they are missing.  Think of it like this:  Someone makes you a bowl of Hunter’s Stew, leaving out the meat.  The meat is why it’s called “Hunter’s” Stew.  Or, they left out the sauerkraut.  Again, that is also a KEY ingredient giving the stew that distinctive flavor.  You miss out on what the recipe is MEANT to be. 

     If we are to live a life following God, then we need to stick to His recipe. We need to follow all of His directions, completely. Otherwise, the result will not be what God intended for us to receive. 


Happy cooking!

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