Brownie Mix & God

By Bridgette O'Hare


Proverbs 13:13
He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.

I just finished putting a pan of brownies in the oven for my not-so-grown-up 19 year old son who batted his eyes and said “please Mommy.”  He’s not a dumb child...he knows precisely which of my buttons to push.  He knows the ingredients to getting a situation to turn out the way he wants when Mom is involved.   

Puppy dawg eyes...check. 

Pouting bottom lip...check.

Hug for Mom...check. 

“Plllleeeaaassseee Mommy” (in that sweet 5 year old way that clearly still works at 19)...double check. 

A simple list of ingredients and viola!  Success.  So, back to the brownies.  I was adding the ingredients called for on the package (because let’s face it...there’s no way I’m making brownies from scratch) and something hit me.  Not literally...mentally.  The ingredients were: 1 egg (normal enough), 1/3 cup of oil (no surprise there), and 2 tablespoons of water.  Wait...what?  Only TWO tablespoons?  What difference is two tablespoons of water going to make? Really?  But there is was.  It did get me to wondering though.  I mean, two tablespoons of water doesn’t seem like much and doesn’t appear that it would make much difference in one batch of brownie mix, but is that how we see the small things in God’s Word?  As though they are insignificant in the big scheme of things?

God’s Word is likely the same way for many of us.   We have all the ingredients at our fingertips, yet we choose to not put some of them in because they seem insignificant.  (Maybe BIBLE actually could stand for Basic Ingredients Before Leaving Earth...nahh...Instructions is probably better.)  Just like Betty Crocker, God has His reasons for the two small tablespoons.  We may never truly know the reason they are needed...but they are needed all the same.

I won’t lie...it crossed my mind not to put them in out of pure mocking curiosity.  But I already had the measuring spoons out...so, why mock what is tried and true?  As Christians, it’s hard sometimes to follow the list and add in everything we need.  We tend to think we can get by without this or that.  But in the end, if we leave out the things God intended to be in the mix, the results may be good enough to put on the plate, but the flavor will be lacking. Trust that God knows what He’s doing.  He’s the Master Chef.  We are merely the Assistants here to learn from the Master.

And for good measure (get it...measure, it’s a pun...haha.  Ok, nevermind), anyway...here are a few other verses about following the instructions.  Feel free to quote them to your kids.  Enjoy!

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 13:1
A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

Job 22:22
Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.