THE POTATO SOUP GOSPEL

Heidi received an invitation to go out for lunch today with a friend, so “just the boys” (as my 3-year-old says) stayed home to eat lunch. Braden is old enough to take care of himself as we eat and rarely needs help, but Caleb is a different story. Being just over a year old, he is really starting to do well with feeding himself if you cut things small enough for him to pick up and eat. He’s also doing very well at taking bites off of larger items if they are soft enough—he does very well holding a banana and eating it. However, the area that he hasn’t mastered yet is eating with a spoon (he likes to think that he has it mastered and constantly tries to take the spoon from us), but he is a few more baths away from mastering it.

Heidi normally sits next to Caleb and helps him eat while I sit next to Braden who very seldom needs helps (thank you honey), but today because she wasn’t here, I had to sit next to Caleb in order to help him. I cut up all of the items into nice bite-size pieces and he was doing great while I was spoon-feeding him the potato soup. Things were going well until about the fourth bite of potato soup. All of a sudden…he didn’t want it anymore; lips were pursed, eyes shut, head shaking back and forth. There was no way that this plane would come in for a landing.

And that got me thinking…we need to be open to the teaching of the Lord through the Scriptures, through the Holy Spirit, through other people. If we’re not open to it, it won’t get in. It’s like the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-9, if our ”soil” isn’t open and fertile and good, the seed sown won’t grow.

And that got me thinking….again. How does this relate to us going out to witness to the good news of God’s grace? Why do we even try to spread the gospel in this hardened world? Why should I waste my time? The questions (and excuses) go on and on.

We do it because Christ called us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew:28:16-20). There’s no question about it—we’ve been commissioned; we need to do it. But what about those that aren’t open to it? Simply put…you try. You don’t try to force a whole spoonful of potato soup down their throats, but you do dab it on their lips so they get a taste of it. And eventually, they will hopefully open up for more of the banquet that the Lord provides.

I love how the Lord is using this blog to make me think, which is then making other people think. But don’t let it stop there…send the link to your friends, or tell them about it. Give them a dab on the lips to taste.