That Little Something Extra

M

acaroni and cheese is one of my all time favorite things to eat, especially if it’s homemade.  It’s not that the store-bought brands aren’t good, they are just lacking that little something extra that makes homemade food taste so much better.

A few years ago, during my annual pilgrimage to North Carolina to spend the Christmas holidays with my family, I had the most wonderful experience.  Now all of you know what a trip home for the holidays means, right?  You guessed it, mom’s homemade cooking and plenty of it!  Of course, I am under considerable pressure to eat everything that is set before me!  I wouldn’t want mom to be disappointed now, would I?

My first home-cooked meal was a wonderful lunch that included homemade macaroni and cheese. I watched as mom prepared the ingredients for the macaroni. She made the pasta, drained it, and then placed all of the ingredients into a casserole dish.  The recipe required a certain amount of liquid before being placed into the oven to bake.  After adding the correct measure of milk, mom made the following statement, “I’m going to add just a little more milk.  It gives it a better texture and a better flavor!”

She was right.  When the dish came out of the oven, piping hot and ready for our table, the taste surpassed anything I could have made or purchased off the shelf.  So what was the difference?  It wasn’t the pasta, it wasn’t the cheese, and it wasn’t the milk.  All of these I could have measured and added myself.  What made the dish unique and beyond compare was that little extra something mom added to the dish.  That little extra something represented all the experience and knowledge that years of preparing meals had given her.  It was a part of her, a part of who she was that she placed into the dish that set it apart from any other.

The same can be said about those of us who are Christians.  What is it that sets us apart from the rest of the world?  What is it within us that causes us, or should cause us, to be different and to live lives that are distinct from those around us?  I would like to suggest it is a little extra something, namely the presence of God’s son, Jesus Christ, living within us that distinguishes His followers from those who are not believers in Christ.

The extra measure of milk mother added to her casserole was not in the recipe.  It wasn’t written in the instructions; it wasn’t suggested in footnote at the bottom of the page. In fact, nothing about the recipe even hinted that something extra needed to be added.  However, without that little extra something, the casserole would have been just that, a casserole and not one of mom’s great homemade dishes.  It would have been just like every other casserole made from that recipe!

Now, think about that for just a second and apply it to your life today.  As a believer in Jesus Christ, God has placed within us a little extra something.  He has placed a part of Himself within us, a part not on the recipe, a part we were not looking for, but a part that makes all the difference in the world.  Without Christ, we are just like store-bought items off the shelf. We look alike, we sound alike, and we taste alike.  But there is something missing!  We need that little extra measure in our lives to make us what God knows we can be.  God has the necessary ingredient and He knows how much to add.

In Ephesians 3:20, Paul tells us about God’s measurements, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Did you catch that?  Did you see how large God’s mixing bowl and his measuring cup are?  They are immeasurable!  That little extra something isn’t so little.  It represents the full extent of God’s love and grace toward us.  When God gave His son to die for our sins, He opened up the storehouse of His love, mercy, and grace and dumped the whole thing in!!!  So great is His love for us that He is not content to leave us as we are. Instead, when we become His followers and His children, God places in us that little something extra that makes our lives wonderful and unique.  That little extra something is the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, His son and our Lord.

Does your life have wonderful flavor and texture?  Is your life different from those around you?  Does your life have a different aroma and taste from those who are not believers in Jesus Christ?  Do you have that little something extra in your life today?