Parable of the Recipe
I love to read recipe books. I enjoy scanning the list of ingredients and perusing the instructions on how to create a culinary delight. I especially love bread recipes, because bread is one of my most favorite things to make. While bread is baking, it fills the house with a delicious aroma, warms the kitchen, and it is enjoyed by all. However, no matter how many recipe books I read, I will never be fed or nourished until the ingredients are prepared and the food consumed. A hunger will inevitably remain unless time is taken to gather the flour and yeast and then make it according to instruction. While reading recipe books, I have thought about how this is like the word of God in my life. In the scriptures, Jesus Christ says that he is the Bread of Life. Am I partaking of this life giving nourishment?
Reading the scriptures, but not pausing to ponder them is like scanning a great recipe. It is but a fleeting thought in the mind. However, if a moment is taken to examine the words and really think about them, then I begin to gain an understanding and a sense of what the recipe will be like. I start to picture the blending of ingredients and my thoughts go to work on what this recipe will actually become--- a wholesome loaf of bread. The gathering and mixing will require me to pay attention to the directions given if I want the recipe to turn out as planned. Preparation, work, and getting a little messy are part of the process. As the bread is kneaded it starts to take shape. Then it is molded and left to rise in a warm place. As I imagine the loaf in the oven, my sense of smell is awakened and I think about the delicious aroma that will permeate my home as it bakes. By spending some time and really thinking about this recipe, I am inspired to make the necessary effort to get up and go to work in order to complete it because I know it will be good. It takes energy and time to prepare but the joy of watching the bread being eaten by my family makes everything worth it. I know they are enjoying the food and are being fed by something good.
However, no matter how wonderfully the bread is prepared, how delicious it may smell, or how great it looks, it will not nourish if it is not eaten. I must partake of the bread along with my family in order to be nurtured it. The bread fills my hunger and my soul. It changes the feelings of hunger into satisfaction and with that, the desire to go and share this bread with others. This bread becomes part of my nature and also changes my nature in an enriching way. This is how we can become like Christ and have his qualities change our souls. We must ponder his life, be nourished by his words, partake of his ordinances, and therefore an absorbing change will be wrought by the miracle of the atonement.
I am the Bread of Life, said Jesus. He will sustain and nourish our souls if we will believe in Him and partake of His offerings. I believe this is the grandest recipe ever written.
