Walking into the house was like walking into a bakery. The smell of fresh baking cookies was fantastic! Moving into the kitchen as a fresh batch was being taken out of the oven added to the sensation. The cookies looked amazing. Perfect golden brown with melted chocolate chips perfectly showing their chocolaty goodness. It was a sensory overload.
Standing there, smelling the cookies, seeing them being shuffled from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack was delightful, however, no cookies were offered for tasting.
Another batch of cookie dough was being put on cookie sheets, ready to be placed in the oven. And still, no offer was made to taste those delicious-looking, and smelling morsels on the cooling rack.
It is a good thing to live our lives as a living sacrifice to our God and Savior Jesus Christ. It is, according to scripture, a requirement of the Christian. God is glorified when others see Christian love in progress and are exposed to the goodness of Christ. However, if we never offer others to taste and see that the Lord is good, I can tell you, from first-hand experience it is not a good thing. As it turns out the home baker in the story, not expecting guests and making just enough cookies for a commitment,, had warned her family not to take any cookies or offer any to others.
Hardly anything else is remembered from that day, not even who the family or the baker was. However, the effect of smelling and seeing without being offered is indelibly etched in my memory.
Let’s not leave others smelling and seeing without offering the goodness and grace of God. Let us be ready to give reason for the hope within us. Let us be courageous enough to offer the gospel while being aware enough to know when and how while being ever mindful that it is the Holy Spirit who stirs the heart and mind.