The Finishing Touch

When my three children were growing up, it became a family custom at our house for me to make pancakes on Saturday morning. Not perfect pancakes, mind you—all the same size and shape, fluffy on the inside with golden brown edges. Usually my pancakes came out underdone and rubbery, while other times they looked like ovals of charbroiled shoe leather. Once in a while they tasted delicious—especially when I added blueberries to the batter.

But the batter didn't matter. My goal wasn't to create the world's perfect pancake. Those Saturday morning breakfasts weren't about food; they were about family. Little kids padding around in their pajamas. Mom and Dad in our old baggy sweatshirts and jeans. Sticky fingers passing around bottles of syrup and pouring orange juice. After a hectic week, I could feel my soul relaxing like a big marshmallow melting in a cup of hot chocolate on the kitchen table.

My children are grown up now, and I can't remember the last time I ate pancakes on a Saturday morning. These days, my middle-aged stomach is better served by a low-fat bagel and a piece of fruit. But in our hyperbusy world where the typical American family juggles a zillion commitments every week, I think we'd all be better off if we enjoyed a few more blueberry pancakes.

If you're married, when do you sit down and talk and laugh with your spouse? If you're a parent, when do you find unstructured time to play and pray with your children? When do you spend an evening with others, with no other agenda except to share your lives and deepen your friendships?

In Hosea 7:8, the Lord tells his wayward people, "Ephraim is a flat cake not turned over." What a vivid picture of an unbalanced life! God's people (called "Ephraim" in this verse) were like a pancake that hadn't been flipped over. Spiritually, they were overcooked on one side, raw and cold on the other.

Some Christians are like unturned pancakes. We know lots of information, but don't translate Bible facts into loving acts. Or we're overcooked on the activity side. We're involved in multiple ministries, but we don't find time for quiet moments of prayer that fuel our passion for God. No wonder our exhausted hearts cry out, "Enough, already!" We're starving to be loved, and to love.

Jesus predicted a time when "the love of most will grow cold." The King James Version translates it, "wax cold." You can't do much with cold wax. It's hard, brittle, inflexible. Warm it, though, and it will bend and burn.

Love's candle-glow always burned brightly in Jesus' life. When little children needed his blessing, he welcomed the interruption. When the sick needed healing, he found time to visit them. He showed compassion to poor widows, quarrelsome disciples, and crotchety Pharisees. To well-known sinners others wouldn't give the time of day, Jesus gave hope for eternity. That's what love does.

Love puts the finishing touch on a Christian's spiritual wardrobe. Clothe yourself, the apostle Paul wrote, with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. And "over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Colossians 3:12-14).

You can't rush life-changing love. You can't squeeze it into neat little time slots on your appointment calendar. Slow down, though, and you might catch a taste of it along with some blueberry pancakes on Saturday morning.