MORE Strawberry Jam

My girls LOVE strawberry jam! They have done their best to eat the strawberry jam I made a few months ago. In fact, I think they've eaten (with a little help from Judah, Shorty & me) about a gallon of it! Since they've eaten so much already, I decided to snatch up the 12 pounds of "quick sale" strawberries I saw at HEB Thursday night. And I made more strawberry jam! =)

Here's the thing: when you are doing a repetitive action for a long period of time, you have LOTS of time to think. So I was thinking about my previous post Strawberry Jam, and pondering the analogy of sugar representing the gospel. Some jam recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar, but some recipes, like the strawberry jam recipe, call for a nearly 1:2 ratio. I'm not saying that it takes twice as much gospel as my "contribution".

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Romans 7:18

My thought, as I looked at a batch of jam, was, "That's A LOT of sugar!" I mean, you really don't see much fruit when you pour all the ingredients in the pan. And I thought, "It takes a lot of gospel to preserve this sinner-- and on a larger scale, His church!" It takes SO MUCH MORE than a 2:1 ratio! It takes infinite gospel!!! =) And God doesn't have a shortage! =)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'") And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
John 1:14-16
 
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Ephesians 3:8-12