Growing up, a Christmas tradition in my house was to make gravy. Other people may call what we make spaghetti sauce. But, my family is Sicilian and when a sauce has meat in it, for a Sicilian it's gravy. Since we cook our sauce all day long with pork, meatballs and sausage in it, it is gravy.
Being one of five Italian boys, I and my brothers all learned to make my mother's recipe. It's been in the family for generations.
I remember once I didn't use pork. I forget why, maybe I forgot to get some at the store. I think I figured since the pork pretty much disappears into the gravy, it wasn't all that important.
But It simply wasn't the same color or flavor without it, in fact it was acidic. I had to add sugar to try and balance it out.
Take away one ingredient and the result was inferior to how my mother made it. I never left out the pork again.
Jesus said, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matt 7:24- 27 (NIV)
We don't get to pick and choose what parts of the Bible we will obey, and what parts we consider optional. As soon as we decide what words of Jesus we will listen to and which ones we won't, we have stepped into his place as Lord of our lives.
Our lives' flavor is no longer the same - if we miss that one part our foundation is no longer on a rock, we're on sand.
