One of A Kind

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

(I Corinthians 12:27-28, NIV)

Irresistible!
That’s how I would describe cheese for my family. I have learnt to love cheese after being a wife and mum, simply because my beloved husband and children LOVE it. We love all sorts of cheese except blue cheese. Our visit to the cheese factory in Tasmania was an incredible experience. The best part of the visit was of course - the sample tasting. The wide spread of delicacy was laid across the counter. One should had seen the excitement and wide smiles on these kids’ faces! Ooh…aah…emm…yummy!! In all we probably sampled fifteen varieties. Left out a few odd flavors like chilly and wasabi. Needless to say, we consumed a lot of cheese while we were on that holiday. Cheap and good.

They requested I bring back this precious gift from my trip to Australia again one year later. I tried my best to accommodate this request. So I packed 12 blocks of different kinds of cheese into the cooler box and flew them back. That was the “gold” they waited for besides their mummy.

Back in the local scene, I always end up grabbing the cheapest off the shelf no matter what my recipe was. It is usually the sliced processed cheddar cheese. Sadly, I have to forgo certain recipes which have cheese specification. Every visit to the grocery store, my kids will lure my attention to check out the different ones displayed. I will always point them to the price tags!

Last week, I shopped alone and decided to give my cheese-crazy family a treat. Mozzarella for the potato jacket. Parmesan for some left over pasta. Dinner was indeed satisfying. The first bite into the serving tantalized our taste buds. They savoured every bit of their portions. Then we experimented the various cheeses with different dish. The conclusion of our dinner was we just have to pick the right cheese for the right dish. Oh well, sliced processed cheddar cheese does the job most of the time but it was not the premium taste and quality on potato jacket and pasta although it is excellent in sandwiches. The texture and taste is simply different in all the cheeses. Not that we don't know but we have to compromise the taste due to budget.

The savoury thought brought to mind the Apostle Paul’s analogy in I Corinthians 12 of the body. Every saint is created with a unique design to fulfill a specific function to build his church. It is meant to compliment each other and never intended for competition. When each of us fit into our design and serve our purpose, we will send sweet smelling aroma and tantalizing taste to a world that needs to see and taste that the Lord is good.

What kind of “cheese” are you?
Which “dish” will you serve best?
Let’s take a moment this week to reflect on our form and function.

Heavenly Father, You are such a Marvelous Maker – creatively fashioning me into one of a kind to serve Your call. Help me to accept and appreciate the person You made me. Equip and empower me as I seek to be united with the rest of the Body of Christ to bring forth Your fragrance and goodness to this world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.