The Soup Pot

I love to make soup.
I enjoy making all kinds of soup.
Everyone in my family has their favorite.
My husband likes them all.

After a meal of homemade soup, my husband will always make the same announcement.
Your Mom makes the best soup in the world.
My husband is extremely prejudice.
My son, who is a lawyer, always has a comeback.

How can you say that, Dad, unless you have tasted all the soup in the world?
My husband answers with assurance that my soup is indeed the best in the world.
It is a circular argument that has no resolution.
My son enjoys the argument; however, my husband refuses to let him win.

When I make a meal for someone, a pot of soup, homemade bread, and a dessert is given.
A pot of soup will provide leftovers.
If someone had surgery or just had a baby, a pot of soup seems to be a wonderful comfort.
Whether it is the best soup in the world has yet to be determined; it is to be a blessing.

When I make a meal for someone, I do not want them to have to return any dishes.
I make the soup in my large soup pot.
I bring the meal on a tray.
I make sure that the meal arrives hot and ready to eat.

I always ask if we can transfer the soup from my pot to one of their pots.
That way nothing needs to be returned to me.
The recipient of the meal always feels the need to clean the lid and the inside of my pot.
Even when I object, my pot is always put back on my tray completely clean.

When I make chicken soup, pieces of chicken remain in the bottom of the pot.
A quick stir with a big spoon gets every morsel.
As the person pours the soup into one of their pots, the aroma wafts through the kitchen.
Their own pot goes on top of the stove so the soup can be warmed.

I have successfully traveled with a tray of food for more times than I can count.
However, there was one time when a major mishap occurred.
I promised to bring a meal to a family around 5:00 in the evening.
The mom had surgery, so soup, bread, and dessert guaranteed that there would be leftovers.

I secured the tray in my car on the seat like I had done many times before.
I drove to the house smelling the chicken soup all the way.
I had been cooking all day: a meal for us and a meal for this family.
Our meal was spaghetti and meatballs that I had simmering in the crock pot.

As I was driving, I was approached an intersection.
The car in front of me stopped quickly, which made me stop quickly as well.
I saw it happening, as if it was in slow motion.
The tray that I secured started to slide forward.

My hand could not get there quickly enough.
The tray slid right off the seat and onto the floor of the car.
The bread was fine; the brownies were fine.
The soup spilled all over the front passenger floor, covering the mat with chicken soup.

The family was expecting this meal.
My mind was racing as to what I could do for them.
I turned around and drove home.
As I was driving, I remembered the spaghetti and meatballs in the crock pot.

I opened the garage door and drove inside.
I opened the passenger door and got the bread and the brownies.
I got the tray and the large soup pot, which was now empty.
I picked up the entire floor mat and threw it into the trash can.

The soup spilled, but it was entirely contained on the floor mat.
I opened the door and went into my kitchen, carrying the tray, bread, and brownies.
I took the spaghetti and meatballs and poured it into a clean pot with a secure lid.
I took a box of spaghetti out of my pantry and fixed everything neatly on the tray.

I got back in the car drove over to the house with a complete dinner.
It was not the dinner I promised, but the family did not mind.
Needless to say, we had salads for dinner that night.
The family received their meal only ten minutes late.

He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. (Luke 5:36-38)

When the soup spilled onto the floor of my car, I had to make a fast decision.
How could I keep my promise and feed the family?
I would never have scooped up the spilled soup and put it into a new pot from my kitchen.
Something new had to be poured into a new pot.

My spaghetti and meatballs was poured into a clean pot with a secure lid.
The spilled soup was thrown away.
The old pot, that had chicken soup running down the sides, could not be used.
A clean pot needed to be taken out of the cabinet and used for the new meal.

We cannot expect our old way of life to fit into our new life in Christ.
Our new life in Christ cannot be contained in the old wineskins of the way things used to be.
It will not hold; it will burst.
Our new life in Christ has to be in a new container, a body that is being sanctified daily.

A clean pot with a secure lid held the new meal for the family.
The old meal that spilled on the floor of my car had to be thrown away.
That meal was not suitable for anyone.
Something new and fresh was given in its place.

God amazes me.
He consistently teaches us His truth using the simplest example.
What is God teaching you today?