Lord, Make Me!

Birthdays… No matter what the age, birthdays are always so special because they hold a unique value more than any other day of the year. Although gifts are lovely, the cake on that special day is always an exciting part of the celebration. There are tall cakes, small cakes, round cakes, square cakes, and even those outrageous cakes you see on the show Cake Boss. The cakes usually look nice and beautiful once it is at the birthday party. However, the cake didn’t always look that way. It took a few cracked eggs, lots of flour, a pinch of this, a dash of that, and a lot of oven time to actually make the cake displayable. 

Believer, we are all that cake. The Lord wants to make us into something great that others can enjoy. According to John 15:8, He desires to be glorified by the fruit we bear. But what would happen if the baker kept taking the cake out of the oven? It would never be fully cooked, right? Sometimes, we are in the ovens of life, screaming for God to take us out because things become a little heated or uncomfortable. Every time we resist the “making process” the Lord has to take us out to cool us off. The problem with this is that we will never be fully made into what God intended us to be. We will be cooked around the edges not fully cooked in the center.

My Pastor preached a message this past Sunday that will help you further your understanding with the “making process.” Let’s take a look.

Read: Mark 1:16-18

The disciples showed us perfectly how we resist the making process due to the trials of life. Jesus clearly told the disciples that He would “MAKE” them if they follow Him. Like we all have done, we too dropped our “fishing nets” and followed Christ. But what happens when storms come? Well, jump over to John 21:3. After the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were heartbroken. Their leader, their master, their love, the man they had left everything for had left them. (At least that is what they thought). Now Simon Peter, frustrated with life, screams to get out of the oven. Not understanding the making process, Peter goes back to fishing. It wasn’t hard for him to go back either because he never truly dropped his fishing net in Mark 1:18. Sometimes, we claim to drop our nets to follow Jesus, but we really haven’t. So every time life gets hot, we pick our nets up and go back to what is comfortable. 

“The net entangles you... The net trips you up and keeps you from walking upright.” –Pastor Vic

What net are you still holding on to that continues to trip you up? Today, you have freedom in Christ to let go of that net. The net is like an egg shell found in a beautiful cake. Although the cake looks wonderful, people keep biting down into pieces of egg shells. Let the baker take His time and thoroughly separate the yoke from the shell. If you want to be a cake that not only looks great but tastes even greater, you have to stop asking the baker to take you out of the making process. The Lord knows exactly when to take you out for display. Drop those nets and stay in that oven until the Creator of everything looks down and says, “THAT is good.”

Maybe today, you are reading this and you can honestly identify the nets you still have in your life. If you are tired of these nets ask the Holy Spirit to help you drop them from your heart. This is not simply a onetime event either. Luke 9:23 tells us it is a daily process to follow Him. Every day, ask the Holy Spirit questions like, “Am I letting old nets entangle me today? What nets are hidden deep in my heart that I am not aware of?” Allow the Lord fill you up with a pinch of richness and a dash of peace, joy, and love. (Proverbs 10:22) These rich ingredients will help you stay content during the making process without any added sorrow. Let Him MAKE you!

“So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21