Daily Reading: 1 John 1:1–10
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. (1 John 1:3)
I recently became part of a new family. Like every family, this one has its own set of unwritten rules. A couple of those rules relate to preparing food. The first is, we must never, under any circumstances, serve lumpy mashed potatoes. Of course, no one advised me of this rule until I had violated it.
Cooking is not my passion. I sort of wish it were, because in my new family, several members really enjoy preparing food. However, one night early in this new relationship, I made mashed potatoes. I smiled as I warned everybody: “I like to call these ‘smashed’ potatoes, because they’re a little lumpy.”
Nobody said a word.
The potatoes tasted perfectly fine to me, but later my husband opened my eyes to the reason for the less-than-positive response to my culinary creation. Since then, I’ve learned the second rule related to food prep at my house: everybody cooks. That means if I make something, I ask whomever is handy to taste it and give me feedback before it’s done. This way, no one can take all the credit—or all the blame—for a meal.
John and the other apostles freely shared the good news of Jesus Christ, so we could be part of a new family—God’s family—and have fellowship with each other. Fellowship that reaches across time, space, age, and gender. And while it’s great to share mashed potatoes, sharing life in the kingdom of God is an experience unmashed, er, unmatched, by any other.
Fellowship with another believer today by relating what God’s been doing in your life.
Mary McNeil lives in Erie, Pennsylvania, and enjoys jet-skiing, sailing, reading, and hanging out with her family and three dogs.
