Whilst preparing my soup, a thought occurred to me (or rather a picture). Recently I've been thinking about the redemptive purposes of the mundane and how God uses every moment of every day to transform us into the people he has purposed us to be. Firstly, redemption is the act of buying something back, and by his sacrificial death, Jesus Christ paid for our redemption. However, what has this got to do with soup I hear you say? Bear with me.
Seeing as soup is a new found activity in my life (not one I'm going to win any prizes for I might add), I started to think about the question - why? Why do we make soup? Perhaps you get enjoyment out of all the preparation i.e. chopping vegetables and other ingredients. Or maybe it's the fact that you can make a massive shed load which lasts a decade. Whatever the reason, I think we all know that the main reason we make soup is to eat it! Nobody to my knowledge serves soup and then prevents the recipients from eating it (to my knowledge). No, in all the work that goes into preparing, chopping and cooking, there is an end result to be delighted in, to be enjoyed, to be eaten! In all the blood (literally in my case although it was only a minor wound), sweat and tears (no tears thankfully), we look ahead to the finished product, the end result. I think that's why homemade soup is so much more enjoyable than soup from a tin can.
I can't think I've ever tucked into a steaming bowl of Heinz tomato and said "ahhhhhh this is absolutely amazing!" (if you know of a moment please correct me). Yet how easily I would settle for the quick, easy instant-ness of tin can soup, compared to the timely, long, arduous process of the homemade. And so it is with us. If you are a believer in Christ, one of God's chosen people, then you are being prepared. For what? To be delighted in, to be enjoyed. Yet change will not happen overnight as so many of us would choose. In His Sovereignty, God takes what may be mundane, what may seem far removed from His redemptive purposes, and in His divine wisdom uses it all for our good and for His glory.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians says:
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-12
One day we will be there! It may take a long time, there may be much chopping, spilt blood and shed tears along the way, but God has a plan and will do whatever it takes to change us into the people he has purposed us to be. And on that day, as wonderfully pictured through the prophet Zephaniah, there will be much rejoicing among the redeemed.
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
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