My life revolves around food. I am either thinking about it, shopping for it, preparing it, eating it, or cleaning up after it. I cannot imagine my life without food. When I am without it for several hours, I begin to think about what I can eat to satisfy my hunger. If I wait too long, I obsess about it. When I am extremely hungry and something stands in the way of me obtaining food, I can get frustrated and angry.
I wish I felt the same way about my diet of prayer and God's Word. If I so chose it, my life could literally revolve around my relationship with my heavenly Father. I could invite Him into my everyday thinking. I could seek His will for my life. I could prepare times and places to be alone with Him. I could feast on His Word and savor nutrients found in His love.
I am most successful in satisfying my physical hunger when I plan ahead. As much as I love to eat, I often fail in the preparation. I find myself saying, "What should we have for dinner?" right when my family and I wish we were already eating. Ironically, I find myself just as unprepared to digest the words God is trying to whisper to me. What I need for both areas of my life are recipes. Without the recipes, I lack direction.
Turn the Bible study portion of your small group meeting into a recipe for abundant life. At the beginning of the discussion, hand each person a 4 X 6 index card. Instruct each person to write down a recipe for living based on the discussion of the lesson.Use the following headings:
Front side:
- "Recipe for" —Leave space to write the topic or personal goal.
- "Ingredients" —Leave the remainder of the front side to list ingredients (what is needed to understand the topic and/or attain the goal).
Back side:
- "Directions" —Leave the back of the card blank for directions on how to use all the ingredients to succeed in understanding the topic and/or attaining the goal.
Instruct members to fill in the recipe card as the lesson progresses.
For example:
Recipe for A Life of Love
Ingredients:
- love God
- love one another
- keep His commandments
- accountability
- prayer/God's Word
Directions:
- Read 1 John 5:1-12. Set a time and place to consistently meet with God (prayer/ God's Word). Recruit an accountability partner to encourage me in this effort. Journal how God loves me every day. Journal how I love God, how I love others, and how I am doing at keeping His commandments.
At the end of the lesson, ask for volunteers to share their recipe.Encourage each person to put his or her recipe card somewhere where they will see it often in the coming week as a reminder of the lesson.
Consider having a "potluck" the last night of the study. Ask each person to bring his or her recipe cards and share a taste of one or more main dishes by giving a short testimony of God working in his or her life based on their recipes.
