I love to bake!But sometimes the end result does not come out as planned. Maybe it’s because I didn’t follow the directions, or sometimes it’s because I left out an important ingredient.Have you ever baked a cake, cookies, or pie and didn’t realize until the end that something just wasn’t right? If so, then you probably did as I, and left out an ingredient.Each ingredient in baking serves a purpose:• Flour builds structure• Sugar adds sweetness• Salt enhances flavor• Eggs add volumeHave you ever left out one of these ingredients? I have, more than once. Maybe you didn’t add as many eggs and the cake didn’t rise or left out the sugar or salt and it had no flavor or sweetness? The final result was a disaster and not good for the reason it was created—eating of course!Our life is much like a recipeGod created us to serve Him and to live eternally in Heaven with Him, and He gives us the directions on how to make this recipe. But the main ingredient is Jesus. Many of us leave out that main ingredient of our life’s recipe. We try to add our own ingredients such as church membership, being good, or giving. All of those are ingredients, but without the main ingredient—Jesus—the end result of our life will be a disaster, much like a cake without eggs or flour.Our life’s purpose (according to our Creator) is to be saved and to serve Him. Our end result is to be in Heaven for eternity—but without Jesus, we cannot do either of those. John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” Without Jesus, we can’t get to God or Heaven.An incomplete recipeRomans 3:23 explains that we are all born with Jesus missing from our life: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”We spend our entire lives always trying to find the one thing that competes our life’s recipe. We try to find meaning in money, fame, and popularity, but everything is meaningless without Jesus.Romans 6:23 tells us what happens if we die without Jesus: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”Romans 5:8 states that Jesus came to be that main ingredient in our lives: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”Romans 10:13 gives us the final direction in our recipe for it to be completed: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”Once we add Jesus to our life, then “our” recipe is complete and the end result will be gloriously complete! So don’t miss out on a wonderful life and eternity by leaving out the main ingredient—JESUS!
