At Weight Watchers this week, we were talking about those things we eat at Christmas because someone says, “I only make them once a year and I made them especially for you.”
It is hard enough to hear, “I only make them once a year.” It is hard enough to hear, “I made them especially for you.”
But combine those two and it is hard to refuse the treat (usually baked goods), no matter how hard you may have worked to budget Weight Watcher points for your day/week/month.
I thought right after that, while looking at a poster of plump blueberries and ripe strawberries on the wall of the Weight Watchers meeting, how we always want to make intricate desserts for those we love. God makes these lovely berries, as the most intricate of desserts for us. Since He makes them, we can’t improve on them as a dessert. We can just serve them. Even sprinkling sugar on them really does nothing for them when they are naturally ripened. They are perfection, without needing man’s touch.
They are almost too simple for us to serve to our loved ones, because God did all the hard work involved in growing them. They are totally gifts of His grace and bounty. And we, being by nature works-oriented, associate our own hard, intricate work with showing love for our family and friends. Thus . . . we bake and bake.
We bake and bake even when we know that delicious fruit, served plain, would be best for us and for our loved ones (I am not advocating always avoiding baked goods, as we have Weight Watchers weekly points for just such things–there is a balance to be found, after all!).
And God outdoes us every time. It is a gift of His grace that He does that. Just by making His lovely fruits to grow.
Then I thought of the seasons in which blueberries and strawberries are harvested fresh. I thought I heard God saying, “I only make them once a year and I made them especially for you!”
And, with a fresh understanding of His grace, love for God surged through me. He really is the best Friend and Familymember of all.
Merry Christmas!
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