Now you’re Cooking with Gas

A Series on the Milestones in Jesus’ Life

Mark 1:1-11

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%201%3A1-11&version=NIV;NLT

 

When I was in high school and was working on my math homework, sometimes I would get stuck and I would ask my Dad for help. What I really wanted though, was for him to just tell me the right answer. That would make it much faster and easier. But he never did.

 

He would make me work through the problem by asking me questions that made me think. Ugh! Then, at some point, a light would come on; and suddenly, I would get it.

 

Usually at that time Dad would say, “Now you’re cooking with gas”. I didn’t know exactly what that meant, or where the saying came from; but I knew it was his way of saying, “Good job, Joe Boy. I’m proud of you”. When he said that, I felt like I could conquer the world; or at least the world of math.

 

John had a mission that was inspired by the prophet Isaiah. “He was a voice shouting in the wilderness.” John was preparing the way for the Messiah by calling people to confess; to repent; to turn away from their sins; and to be baptized. Then one day, Jesus came to be baptized.

 

⁹ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”     NIV

 

John had prepared the way for Jesus. In the process, John had become very popular; but now it was time for the focus to shift to Jesus. His baptism was the passing of the mantle of ministry. It was a milestone in Jesus’ life.

 

With his Heavenly Father’s affirmation, Jesus was sent into a life of ministry. It was to be a life of trials, troubles and temptations. Yet, he went into it knowing that his Father, his Dad, loved him and would always be with him constantly at work through him and in him.

 

You probably haven’t heard an audible voice telling you, “You are my son, my daughter, whom I love.” Yet, this same affirmation; this same love; this same promise is there for you and me today. How should we respond?

 

Making Dad Proud

Hebrews 13:1-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013%3A1-17&version=NIV;NLT

 

Growing up there wasn’t anybody that I wanted to make proud of me more than my Father. I desperately needed his love and approval, and I’d do anything to get it.

 

Before my senior year of high school, my Dad got a job in a different state. Because I wanted to finish school with my childhood friends, my parents made arrangements for me to live with a family friend.

 

With plans to leave soon, my parents came to the last football game that they would ever see me play. The problem was that I spent most of my time on the bench.

 

Desperately wanting to get into the game to do something special, the coach called my name. I wanted to do something, anything to make my Dad notice me; to make him proud; to make him stand up and yell, “That’s my son!”

 

Hebrews 13 gives us a lot of ways to please God. In the first paragraph alone, the writer says to love one another; to show hospitality; to remember those that are in prison;1 and to comfort those who are suffering.

 

He also reminds us that God is always with us; that he will never leave us; that he is the same “yesterday, today and forever”; and that Jesus suffered and died for us to make us holy. And how are we to respond to who God is and what He has done?

 

¹⁵ Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.           NLT

 

In the moment of that high school football game, I would have run through a brick wall for my Dad. Instead, I picked out an overweight defensive lineman who was huffing and puffing about twenty yards from the ball carrier and leveled him with my best block ever. My Dad never mentioned the play.

 

But I have a Heavenly Father who is always with me; who loves me the same as He did yesterday, today and tomorrow no matter what I do or don’t do; who loved me so much that He sent His one and only son to die for me.

 

That’s the Dad that I want to make proud of me.