Psalm 34:8a – Taste and see that the Lord is good. (NLT)

Recently, I watched a webinar aired by Osteoporosis Canada featuring a recipe for Chicken Shawarma Meatballs being prepared and cooked. All that was missing was the delicious smell emanating out of the oven! I confess that meal preparation is sometimes tedious for me. I tend to cook the same dinner meals over and over. This recipe looked interesting, and I looked forward to trying it on my family.

Assembling my ingredients, I noticed that some of the spices in the recipe were not ones usually found in my cupboard or were too stale to use. My husband kindly shopped at the bulk food store to replenish my supply. I was surprised at the needed quantities of smoked paprika, cumin, and ground coriander: one or two teaspoons each. Other ingredients were also ones I would not normally think of putting into meatballs.

The presenter instructed, "Get your hands in there and mix the meat and spices really well." She then baked the meatballs in a hot oven with red onion and colourful sliced peppers.

As we dug in to our own meatball dish, I marvelled at the amazing blend of flavours. I didn't think I liked cumin that much, and cinnamon was certainly not a spice I would use in meatballs, but the end effect was delicious! Spices transformed my usual bland meatballs into something exotic.

Spices add something different and noticeable to something ordinary that they come in contact with. In order to share Christ with the non-believing world, we need spices in our lives so that we are different and noticeable. People generally have no idea what God is really like. They don't go to church, or read the Bible for themselves. When we Christians are different, people watch us to see how we react to the circumstances of life.

What are the spices that transform us on the inside, making us different from those who don't believe? On the foundation of the unique qualities that God put into us at conception, He adds spiritual gifts that influence how we relate to others. We may not think that a certain spice is what we need in our lives, but our all-knowing God sees it in His plan for us. When we believe, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Then "the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23a NLT)

Let us allow God to increase all these components in our lives, as He carefully mixes and blends our seasonings together, so that we can impact the world for Him!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for blending in us the ingredients that make us flavourful to the world. Help people to clearly see Your goodness through us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.