Oatmeal & Applesauce

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Greetings Lifers,

So I’m walking through my corner grocery store this past Monday on a quest for some applesauce. Yes, I said applesauce. I don’t actually like applesauce on its own, but when mixed into a piping hot bowl of oatmeal fresh off the stove and blended with just the right amount of brown sugar and cinnamon, well, that there’s a pretty good breakfast. So, like I typed, I’m on a quest for applesauce. I actually left my home early in the morning to find some, having discovered an utter lack of applesauce upon opening our refrigerator. Can’t have the oats without the sauce, I reasoned. So out into the cold I went.

Okay – fast-forward to my arrival home. I am carrying the applesauce in one hand like a hunter who bagged his prey. I grab my oatmeal cooking pot, fill it with the required amount of water, put it on our stove and crank it to boil. Next, I snatch the cinnamon and brown sugar from their spots in our pantry and turn to grab the oatmeal can. I reach with one hand, cradling the container so as to assure it’s stability as I lift it from its perch…

…only to realize that the can is completely empty. Horrified, I peel off the lid for confirmation. Check and double check. No oatmeal to be found.

My toast was not tasty.

Ever gotten ahead of yourself in something? You know, you’re buying the drapes for a house you don’t yet own? I was teaching our Lambkins preschoolers about the 10 commandments earlier this morning at their weekly chapel (tough crowd, by the way – holding the attention of a 30 year old is infinitely easier than doing so with a 3 year old. A huge shout out to all who are gifted in leading our kids…). Anyway, in ten minutes I taught a bunch of 2, 3, and 4 year-olds the most important principle in Scripture – check out the first commandment:

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

That simply means God first, everything else second – this is the message of the Old Covenant and the New (Mt. 6:33). But far too often we put the stuff of life ahead of the God of life. Seems we can have all the spiritual trimmings but no oatmeal (i.e., an appearance of godliness but no love for God). People do it all the time. They get way down the road of doing something that they are sure God is 100% behind only to realize that they never truly checked to see if He was with them at all. Ever gotten through a season of life and found the God can empty? I have. That’s why I pray that we always keep first things first, that we start with God and His will for life before determining the specifics for ours. Doing so makes all the difference.

Free,

Mark Saunders

Senior Pastor

Bay Life Church