Recipe for Life

by Heather Tietz

And he said, “If you will diligently listen to the LORD your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”

Exodus 15:26

The Israelites were under a new regime. This mysterious God of their forefathers had rescued them. No longer would they slave under the hand of Pharaoh, no longer would their time be spent building the kingdom of a heavy-handed monarch. Now they would live under the protection and the laws of a powerful God. They would build His kingdom. They would serve Him. They would eat of the abundant life He gives if they would just follow His unusual recipe.

God gave this recipe to Moses. The original 10 commandments He wrote with His finger on stone. But another some 600 statutes would be handed out to the Israelite community as well. These ingredients would create an orderly society, a safe family environment, protection from disease and connection to this all-powerful God.

God’s kingdom has expanded. We are now a part of it, welcomed in through Jesus. Jesus stirred up all those Old Testament commands and statutes into one recipe. He called it, Love. Jesus said, “Love first God, then your neighbor, then yourself.” This is the path to an abundant life, a living feast, an overflowing meal of God’s goodness. Dig in today.