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. 

 

Each December, I return to North Carolina to spend the Christmas holidays with my family.  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? 

 

Home-cooked meals are always a wonderful experience. As I said in the opening sentence, homemade macaroni and cheese is one of my all-time favorites and I love to watch as mom prepares the ingredients for this dish. She makes the pasta, drains it, and then places all of the ingredients into a casserole dish.  The recipe requires a certain amount of liquid before being placed into the oven to bake.  After adding the correct measure of milk, mom usually makes the following statement, “I’m going to add just a little more milk.  It gives it a better texture and a better flavor!” 

 

She’s right!  When the dish comes out of the oven, piping hot and ready for our table, the taste surpasses anything I could make or purchase off the shelf.  So, what is the difference?  It isn’t the pasta, it isn’t the cheese, and it isn’t the milk.  All of these I could measure and add myself.  What makes the dish unique and beyond compare is that little extra something mom adds.  That little extra something represents all the experience and knowledge those years of preparing meals has given her.  It is a part of her, a part of who she is that she places into the dish that sets 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 adds to her casserole is not in the recipe.  It isn’t written in the instructions, and it isn’t suggested in footnote at the bottom of the page. In fact, nothing about the recipe even hints that something extra needs to be added.  However, without that little extra something, the casserole is just that, a casserole, and not one of mom’s great homemade dishes.  It’s 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 you 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 just 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 shed his blood for our sins, God opened up the storehouse of 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. 

 

Do you have that little something extra in your life today?