Cookies?

I admire the beautiful things others have made: doilies, houses, quilts, records, sweaters, successful businesses, Hardanger embroidery, rebuilt cars. I see their children raised in stable homes, graduating from college, having beautiful little families of their own. They all seem so happy.

Then I look at my life, my accomplishments. I feel like all I accomplished was to bake a batch of cookies for my Master. It was a sweet attempt, but half of the cookies were burnt, so no good. The other half … well… I found out my Master doesn’t eat cookies.

I ask myself: “Is what I’ve been attempting to do a waste of time? I want my life to count for the Lord, but does it?”

I read in the Bible: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings?” (Micah 6:6).

I have often felt jealous because I don’t have a houseful of crafts to show, because my children had to cope with the emotional anguish of a broken home, because I’ve started several things and not finished them. Even my photographs are mixed up in a box instead of neatly in albums. I can’t recite the Gettysburg Address or point out and explain historic landmarks. I even got lost when trying to direct someone to the home of my relatives.

I‘ve felt inept, useless, insignificant. “Where do I fit in to your plan, Father?” I ask. “Can I be of any use to you in your kingdom? What do you want me to do?”

I’ve heard a statement about rich owners of a beautiful home, “They must have been doing something right!” but were they? Maybe they were and this is God’s blessing, but not necessarily. Often it is people who have sold out to the devil who are rich. They may not know this and probably didn’t do it intentionally. But often a person gets so intent on earning money and getting a nice home that he doesn’t have time to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Does God want us to build up a pile of accomplishments and successes to present to Him? Or to build up successes and accomplishments for our own glory? Neither. God want our lives to glorify Him. He delights in those who fear Him. The Bible says, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17 RSV). It’s the repentant attitudes of our hearts that are most important to the Lord.

“What does the Lord require of thee but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God,” says Micah 6:8. To the Lord, it is who we are that is most important. It is in our relationship with Him, trusting in His Son for salvation, that He finds pleasure, He wants us to become kind and loving and obedient like Jesus.

Therefore, I’m not wasting time as long as I’m trying to do what is just and fair, being kind and humble, and walking in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. These are the kind of “cookies” my Master likes, even if they’re burnt. He appreciates that I try to please Him because I love Him.