Do you remember as a child going to the lake and feeding the ducks? I do. My mom would take the five us kids to buy some cheap day old bread and then we would go to a park with a lake and feed the ducks. I remember reaching into the bag and pulling out slices, ripping them up in little peices and just throwing the bread into the lake. Then the ducks would come swimming up, eat the bread and we rip up some more bread and throw it into the lake and then do it all over again. We never gave it a second thought that we were just throwing bread into a lake. We didn't care. It didn't matter to us, beacuse we didn't make the bread!
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However, I recently began making my OWN homemade bread. Making your own bread is pretty time consuming and involves some work. You gotta mix together the ingredients, kneed the dough and then wait several hours for it rise, then finally you bake it. I remember when I pulled out of the oven my FIRST loaf of homemade bread, I was SOOOOOOOO proud of it! I sliced off piece, spread a little butter on it then took a bite...Mmmmmmm...It was VERY GOOD!!! As i sat there, eating it, savoring each bite, I thought, there is NOOOOOOOO way this bread is EVER going to be ripped up and fed to the ducks. As much fun as I think it feeding the ducks, its NOT gonna happen with this bread!!! You know why?!?! Because I made the bread and when YOU make the bread. It took some effort kneeding that dough and YOU begin to understand that the bread is a little more special that just buying a loaf at the store. When you make the bread, EVEN the scraps are special to you.
You know, when living for God, its EASY to take for granted our Godly heritage. It's sooooo easy to forget what all God has delivered and kept us from in life. There are things that our parent's have sacrificed, that we NEVER have, they did it for us. For example, my mother came from a strong Catholic background. There was some traditions that she HAD to give up for her salvation, that I have never had to give up, because she did that for me. As a woman, I can honestly say, that I NEVER had to give up wearing pants. My mom says that giving up pants was one of the hardest things for her to do when she got into the church. She still wore them for a year after getting the Holy Ghost. But I don't know what thats like. The last time I wore pants I was about three years old, so I don't remember it and growing up I have never had a desire to wear them, my mom gave that up FOR ME!!! I don't ever want to forget, the sacrifices my mom made, so that I could have what I do today.
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We NEED to remember, that there was someone before us, that has been cooking up some bread and they have been working REALLY hard make what we have today. There comes a time in each and everyone of us, where we have to get salvation for ourselves. When, this happens, living for God becomes a little more sacred. Going to church, isn't a drudgery, but a joy. It's a little harder to throw away your salvation, when it becomes your OWN decision. When you start making some sacrifices, when you find yourself at the alter, crying your own tears, when you get your own forgiveness, when you REALIZE that Jesus died for YOU, thats when salvation becomes precious. Every time your in the house of God, savor it. IF you find yourself beginning to lose appreciation for the things of God its time to MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD!!!
That they might set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments.
(Psalm 78:7)
