The Message in the Cookie

Do you like Chinese food? When we go out to eat, one of my favorite places is a Chinese restaurant. After I stagger away from the buffet line for one last time, the server always brings me a fortune cookie. I then read the fortune, wondering if it will say something meaningful. Not expecting anything to happen like in the movie “Freaky Friday”, or something else wizardly. Most of the “Fortunes” are just general wisdom and might say; Good things are coming your way, Enjoy what you have/hope for what you lack, You will make very good choices today, The time is right to make new friends, and you get the point. I must admit that I try to think of how this fortune might somehow apply to me. Do we sometimes use Bible verses like “Fortunes”? There are a lot of popular bible verses that give us inspiration and sometimes, like fortunes, we want to shape them into our current situation. One example is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Fantastic verse, but possibly for some, has become a catchall phrase to mean “I can do anything, whatever I feel like doing, God is going to give me the power to do it right there.”

Fortune Cookie Scripture

However, we should understand that Paul is talking about the secret of being content in any and every situation — not necessarily about God giving us favorable circumstances. But can my faith rise above these individual Bible verses without turning them into something they are not? How do I know how to decipher some of these “fortune cookie” bible verses? Can I connect to the history-long, world-shaping narrative of God’s plan? Or will I go my merry way with the spiritual Fortune Cookie saying for the day? As children of God, we are called to rightly study God’s Word to fully understand what God is saying to us.  Then, after we have studied God’s Word properly, God’s Word will separate the thoughts and intents of our hearts “ For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. We start to seek God’s word with all our heart, find the meaning, and then start to see those wonderful plans He has for us in our lives.

God’s Truth

It takes study to find out what God is saying. It takes the Spirit of God to apply that truth to the hearts of the hearers.  Then it takes on a whole new meaning when we see how God changes the life of an individual by His Word. God give me the wisdom to crack open the whole Word, not just the Fortune Cookies. Dear Lord, give me the power to digest Your Word fully and the strength to continue the study of Your Word, one bite at a time. Amen.