Beth was holding the pressurized can of whipped cream over the strawberry shortcake, pressing the valve on the top this way and that, but no cream would come out. Then I tried - still no cream would come out.
Dad had invited an important businessman for dinner and Mom was away on a visit, so Beth and I had prepared the meal. So far things had gone well. But now. . . .
“We’ve gotta get this stuff out of here,” said Beth. “You can’t serve strawberry shortcake without whipped cream!”
“I know it!” I agreed. The minutes ticked off on the kitchen clock as we reshook the can and tried everything we could think of. Then I saw around the base of the can, printed in large letters, the instructions, “DO NOT PUNCTURE OR INCINERATE THIS CAN.” “It says not to puncture this can, but what else can we do? I know there’s whipped cream in there, and we have to get it out, now!”
The Bible has very definite instructions for you too. It says, “GO NOT IN THE WAY OF EVIL MEN. AVOID IT, PASS NOT BY IT, TURN FROM IT, AND PASS AWAY.” Proverbs 4:14,1514Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:14‑15). Are you obeying these instructions? They are from God.
I hunted through the kitchen drawer and found a can opener with a pointed, triangular end. As we both leaned over the can I poked a hole in it.
A second later we were looking at each other in amazement! Our faces, hair, arms and clothes were covered with whipped cream. Some of it had shot past us and landed on the wall behind us and even on the ceiling. “Well, at least it’s out of the can,” I giggled.
“Now what do we do?” Beth mumbled through her coating of whipped cream.
“Well, we’ve gotta get some of it on that shortcake. I know that. Stand still!” Beth obediently stood still as I scraped the whipped cream from her face and arms onto the dessert. Then she scraped whipped cream off of me. The shortcake looked pretty good.
“Now we’ve got to make you look presentable,” I told her and we both began removing the whipped cream from her hair and clothes as quickly as we could. Finally, Beth put on a cover-all apron and carried the dessert into the dining room.
“What on earth took you so long?” asked Dad.
“Oh, we just couldn’t seem to get the whipped cream out of the can,” Beth said.
Sometimes we get ourselves into difficult situations and fail to ask the Lord for His directions. Because He is so gracious, He sometimes makes things turn out all right for us anyway. But there are always sad consequences when we disobey Him. We had not obeyed the instructions on the can, and now we were faced with some big clean-up problems. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice [doing something else].” 1 Samuel 15:2222And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22).
God gives us all the instructions we will ever need in His precious Word, the Bible. First, He tells us to trust His Son, the Lord Jesus, to save us from our sins, and then He wants us to walk hand-in-hand with Him all the rest of our lives. If we do these things we will have a happy and fruitful life that pleases Him. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13:1717If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:17). So don’t forget to read your Bible every day and ask God for help to walk according to the instructions He gives you in it. “Thy word [the Bible] is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105105NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105).
ML-06/06/1993