Cooking is not my talent; in fact, I would rather scrub toilets then cook, but that’s a topic for another post. Normally I wouldn’t watch a cooking show for anything, but my daughter usually watches with my hubby, and since it is more fun to watch with someone, I found myself watching Master Chef; a ‘non-professional’ cooking competition. The skills of the contestants are put to the test by varying assignments.
David won a huge advantage: he got to choose what ingredient they would all cook with (he chose corn) in the next challenge (a professional dessert), and then he got to see examples of what he could make. He liked the idea of making a corn infused rice pudding, and he was given a longer time than usual to get all his needed ingredients. After he left the ingredient room, he realized he forgot the most important item- the rice, but now it was too late to go back. The other contestants had a limited time to grab their ingredients before they came back to stand at their stations and the timer was started.
David was at a loss to know what to do without his rice, so he went around asking if anyone had some he could have. Now remember, this is a competition where there is only one winner. A contestant named Becky had grabbed some rice only as a back-up. She thought about it only briefly and graciously allowed David to have it. The judges were shocked and stated they thought it was a big mistake, and they would not have done it. Another competitor said there was no way he would have done it, but Becky was treating him the way she would want to be treated. (Hmmm 2nd commandment...)
Frank also said he would have done the same and that it was a matter of honour to do the right thing (or something like that). I was very impressed with the two of them (kudos!), and at the end of the judging (David was in the bottom three) the judges asked how many of them would have given the rice to David, and all but one raised their hands. At once I felt a pride in humanity for grace given where none was merited. They could have allowed David what he deserved- to fall because of his own mistake, but instead, grace was given. It seemed like such a little matter, but to David, it meant the world.
So we also have been extended grace by the Almighty, though we didn’t deserve it. We deserved punishment for our sins (Rom. ), but instead, the Father sent His Son to die for our sins (Jh. ). “But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8 ISV). ‘We were still sinners’, we deserved to die for our own sins/ mistakes yet God showed His love for us by sending His beloved Son to pay the price for our sins. He didn’t have to, but He wanted to, so we could live free from sin and death. That’s God. That’s grace. And that’s what we should extend to others as we have had it given to us.
It means the world to each of us.