Beans And Cornbread

I’m not quite sure how it got started, but in our family we eat beans on New Years day.  I guess they figured if you start off on the first day of the year having beans then you can’t go anywhere but up!  Depending on where you are from, you may be eating cabbage or black-eyed peas in an effort to secure your good fortunes this upcoming year.  I don’t think its coincidence that New Years is a national holiday, given the number of people digesting beans and cabbage on the same day.  After all, there is a purpose for college football!

With all that said about beans and cabbage, the Lord got me to thinkin’ about this a couple of months back.  We were talking about all the “things” we put our faith, hopes and trust into so that we can obtain a sense of security that something good will happen to us or that will make us better.  For instance, when my daughter was born someone got me a dream catcher to hang over her bed to catch all the bad dreams.  Then there’s a rabbit’s foot for good luck.  How about the titanium necklaces on the market for athletes now?  You can be a pro just by putting one on.  I used to spend hours looking for four leaf clovers.  Now, if I can just get some thousand thread-count sheets for my bed I could sleep tonight.  All of these are influences of the world.  I could fill up a room with things that we perceive as security, not to mention all the things we are willing to lose for it.

So another year brings a mulligan; one more begins again.  A list of make more, buy more, spend more, lose more, do better, get better, go further… brings no security or peace at all.  Most of us just find ourselves with another mulligan the next year.  The Lord did not intend for it to be so hard for us to have peace in Him.  He gave us Ten Commandments and Romans 12:9 tells us “to hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”  Those are wise words to live by.  All we have to do is cling to what is good.  It’s no wonder we go to bed and can’t sleep at night, look at what we are putting in our hearts and minds before we close our eyes.  I’m not just talking about shows that create fear, what about all the media that sends us and our loved ones to bed at night convinced that we don’t measure up to the false standards of the world?  Those false standards bring more drama than any mama cares to bear.

I pray that this year we will be different.  I pray this year we will not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but will be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and that we will put our hope in the One who loves us just the way we are.    

With Love In Him,
Tanie Ree