Morning Devotional
April 14, 2003
“Camp Cooking”
by Don Emmitte

Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn't difficult. For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:3-5 NLV).

I have just returned from a brief hunting trip with some friends. While it was successful in many ways, the best part about going to camp is the food that we eat! Jamie McClain was the host of the weekend and he is an incredible “cowboy cook.”  He can take a Dutch oven and some hot coals and make the best cobbler you ever put in your mouth!  

I have tried on several occasions to duplicate the meals from camp at home. Somehow it never turns out the same. I tried the cobbler “recipe” once.  It didn’t seem to be too difficult, just some Bisquick and canned peaches.  How hard can that be? So, armed with half the necessary knowledge and none of the tools, I tried to make do with what I had on hand. I opened a box of "Bisquick" and dumped some into a cake pan. I glopped a can of sliced peaches on top of that. I thought that maybe I should add some sugar, so I grabbed the sugar container and poured a scientifically measured amount (a small gob) in the pan. I swirled the ingredients of my concoction with a big spoon until it was fairly well mixed up. Time to preheat the oven. I asked Mary, "Honey, what temperature should I use to cook this?" She knows this stuff. My wife replied from the other room, "I'm not sure. I usually follow the 'recipe' when I cook.” I baked my cobbler at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. I raised the temperature to 350 for the last 10 minutes. Sometimes I tinker. It didn't look done, so I baked it for another 10 minutes. I used a timer to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. The top was almost brown so I set the timer for 5 more minutes. Still not done. The timer must be defective. I kept baking, opening the oven door every 5 minutes to check the progress. By now, my wife was getting fidgety. I waited until the top of the cobbler was brownish and loudly declared; "It is finished.”  My camp peach cobbler tasted great. Even the dog liked it!

Some are guilty of “Cobbler Christianity.” They add a pinch of scripture and a dash of good deeds, then expect grace to bake them into a spiritual delicacy. You can't wing it with critical ingredients like faith and obedience. Don't ignore the directions when your soul is at stake. Others quickly justify their custom concoction, quoting that we are no longer under the law. They say, the law was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. I know that that is scriptural, but quoting scripture out of context is dangerous. It's sort of like reading only one line of a recipe. You can't just say sugar makes a good cobbler. You need other ingredients.

The law was fulfilled, but what does that mean? It means that the strict adherence to the law was finally completed and the perfect sacrifice was offered and accepted for the sins of the world. That fulfillment is offered to us by the grace of God. Reading the rest of the scriptures, we find that we are still responsible for faith, obedience, loving our neighbor and many other ingredients. I am not sure who decides which laws are no longer in effect. Some say that certain food preparation laws are no longer valid. Some laws were absolutely never rescinded. No one will argue the Ten Commandments are still in effect, right? If someone is "no longer under the law", how about that whole adultery thing? How many cups of grace does it take to cover that? It may not be spiritual, but the law of gravity is also in effect. Try violating that one and let me know how grace works for you. Yes, we are saved by grace. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. Our righteousness is as filthy rags in God's sight. But that doesn't let us off the hook.