Romans 10:13
‘For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”’
My precious Eulanda was born in the Philippines but adopted and raised in Hawaii. I, obviously, am what the Hawaiians call, a ‘haole.’ Wikipedia says,
“Haole (/ˈhaʊliː/; Hawaiian [ˈhɔule]) is a Hawaiian word for individuals who are not Native Hawaiian or Polynesian. In Hawaii, it may mean any foreigner or anything else introduced to the Hawaiian islands of foreign origin, though it is most commonly applied to people of European ancestry.”
Because of our mixed marriage, it is no surprise that I absolutely love Filipino food. Our Thanksgiving holiday meal was basically the traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings [Southern slang]. Whereas other holidays consist more of a fusion of ethnic tastes; combining both Filipino foods with a modern twist on the traditional American or Southern dishes, to make them slightly more healthy, but sadly, less tasty. I will always remember helping Eulanda make and prepare Filipino lumpia, for our special occasions and for school fundraisers, which were always a smash hit with students and faculty alike. Lumpia is the Filipino version of the Chinese eggroll. The first lesson I learned while helping Eulanda in the kitchen, lumpia had to be rolled tightly so they would not fall apart while being fried in the wok. Nothing tasted worse than a grease-soaked lumpia that was falling apart because it was not tightly wrapped. They were nasty and had to be thrown away.
There’s a life application here. In the same way, to survive the heat of everyday life, a person must be tightly wrapped. Oh to be tightly wrapped so as not to fall apart while going about your everyday duties of life. Sadly, however, that was not always the case in my life. I fail many times and I am not perfect. Most of the time, I overthink things and because of negativity that bombards me on all sides, I come to loath myself and wrestle with a form of depression. I see myself as a grease-soaked lumpia that is falling apart because I am not wrapped tightly at all; not even from the start. I do not have life figured out and I do fail – no one will truly understand the pain a father has because his children hate him and do not want a relationship with him at all.
Using another food analogy borrowed from another ethnicity, a messy taco is not like a greased-soaked lumpia that is thrown away because it is good for nothing. Something is different. With tacos, you construct them to fit your liking. Sometimes I will want fish tacos, and other times I crave the traditional Tex-Mex ground beef, turkey, or chicken tacos. Sometimes tacos are great with barbeque pork if that is available. And then other times, a tasty veggie taco can really hit the spot. We all quickly learn you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to construct the perfect tasty taco. Anything works! Just put whatever you like into the taco shell and viola! You got your perfect tasty taco and you are ready to go in for your first bite. Crunch! And then you look at your plate…Oh no! The taco fell apart! The shell is in pieces, the meat and the veggies are strowed all over, and it’s a mess. The amazing tasty goo, that delicious nectar, or rather, those savory essential oils oozing from the taco sauce, are all over your plate, your hands, and your face. But oh! … the taco still tastes so good. instead of throwing the messy taco away, you linger to savor and enjoy every messy piece. Yum!
In this example, I am not attempting to say that all my flaws, sins, and character defects are acceptable by any means. No! not at all! God’s Word tells us to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 21:8; Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:7). The reason I favor this analogy is to say, that in spite of all my failings, my sinful nature, and my flaws, I have worth and value that is found only in Jesus Christ alone. He will not throw me away as others do in life. I am chosen and saved by his grace alone through faith alone, which is the perfect gift from God. I, by myself, am worthless and have no good things to claim as my own. But by His grace and in Jesus Christ, I do have value. That value is the cost of Jesus, the Son of God, who took all my unrighteousness upon himself and gave me his perfect righteousness instead. He, with all my unrighteous filth upon Him, takes the punishment of God’s wrath that legitimately should have been mime. Jesus Christ does not throw me away; instead, He puts a new heart in me and takes away my old stony heart. He gives me all His righteousness and now when God the Father looks at me, he sees the purity of Christ. He creates in me, through the miraculous power of a new birth, a new life where I can now deny myself to follow my Christ. Even though this new life requires self-denial, I am more willing now to take up my cross of affliction, pain, and sorrow, to follow my Christ so I can give him all glory in spite of all the mess I’ve made in my life. To Jesus, I am valuable.
Therefore, because of what Christ has done for me, I gladly give my life and my all to Him. Frances R. Havergal (1874 ) wrote this beautiful Christian hymn, ‘Take My Life And Let It Be.”
- Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise. - Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee. - Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee. - Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose. - Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne. - Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.