Articles
Are You Missing Ingredients?
Recently we had a lot of bananas get really ripe, so I started to make a big batch of banana muffins. I took them out of the oven, gave them a taste, and realized right away that something was wrong. I had forgotten to add the butter. I had put the amount of butter called for by the recipe in a bowl and melted it in the microwave. There it stayed, forgotten, until I discovered my error. The muffins tasted… alright, but they weren’t what they could’ve been if I had not failed to add this critical ingredient.
What is your missing ingredient(s)? In Mark 10:17-22, a man, described as a “Jewish leader” in Luke 18, comes to Jesus with an important question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” After telling him to follow the law, the man asserted that he has done so since his youth. Jesus was able to seize upon the missing ingredient that he lacked, and he wasn’t very happy about it.
What are we lacking? Are we even asking the question? Do we even want to know?
If you want eternal life then it is a question you must ask. Being a christian is a process that begins upon obedience to the Gospel.
Paul the apostle suffered a great deal for Christ. We would describe him as a person of great faith, and unashamed of the Gospel. Yet he described himself as someone with more to do. In Philippians 3:10-14 he says that he has not yet obtained eternal life and arrived at his goal. He says: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” If Paul says this, then we cannot sit on our hands and say we have no more work to do.
Therefore, it is necessary that we ask the question: What yet must I do? We should follow the lead of the rich young ruler and ask God about it. We should consult God’s word, comparing ourselves to the recipe for life found there, and we should add whatever ingredients are missing to make ourselves all that we can be in service to our Lord.
Joshua Pettigrew
Deacon, Monticello church of Chris
