Tanya and I recently enjoyed lunch with an elder and his wife (precious new friends) at a Chinese restaurant in Watauga, Texas. I had some Mandarin Kung Pao Chicken; Tanya ate the Ginger Broccoli Chicken. Near the end of the meal I played my customary game with her, sliding the fortune cookies in circles across the table, as if to make the outcome more mysterious. Just as she reached for one, I pulled it back and moved the other toward her a couple of times. Then each of us took one.
Ironically, I opened the fortune that should have belonged to my youthful, energetic, and creative wife. It said, “It’s fun being a kid. It’s high time for one of your most promising ideas.” Believe it or not, her fortune read, “Many will travel to hear you speak!” If I could only have had that one instead! Ha!
You know I’m just having fun with a silly custom. The truth is, my fortune and yours are not dependent upon a cookie, a horoscope, or fate. There is not some Luck Goddess who bestows her favor on some but not others. Drawing straws, playing the lottery, or waiting for my ship to come in is not the secret to success.
Instead, my reward will come as the result of obedient faith in Jesus Christ.
I want one day to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim 4:7-8).
It’s not the cookie that I pick, but the seed that I plant, that leads to the future that I want.
If I will focus on sowing what pleases the Lord, the harvest will take care of itself.
The Scripture says in Gal 6:7-9, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”
Hmmm. Maybe I should stop swapping cookies …
Cory Collins
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