Worth It

I made more jam this week! =) I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of cooking yumminess! In the twelve years that I've been married, I've been primarily responsible for cooking for my family. The first year I didn't do a real great job, but my skills have improved. =) Now, if you know me, or have read much of my blog, you know that I love cooking and baking, AND I love eating the fruits of my labor! ;) However, I was thinking as I was stirring jam, that I have suffered countless cuts and innumerable burns in my years of cooking. And cuts and burns HURT! So why did I not stop cooking after the first cut... or the fifth burn... or the fiftieth? Well, one reason is because for us to eat, SOMEONE has to cook-- and I'm the most economical. ;) But the other reason is that I think it is worth it to suffer the occasional (or frequent) cut or burn, to savor the fresh yumminess that my efforts produced!

And then I thought about the walk of faith. I am an American, and so I enjoy comfort that many of my brothers and sisters around the world do not. And because of my comfort I tend to get my priorities mixed up-- I tend to think that comfort is more important than growth. But the biblical authors had a different view of things. They believed that whatever we may suffer (and for them that was A LOT!) was worth the reward in Christ's kingdom.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
 
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
1 Peter 4:12-14
 
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18