Prep cook

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

I spent a good number of years working in the restaurant industry as a cook. Well, I started out as a dishwasher, but I worked my way up to being a Sous Chef, serving alongside some of the best and most talented foodies I know. One thing I learned along the way was there were certain jobs that I liked in the kitchen and certain jobs that I didn’t like. Sometimes I was “in the zone” and other times it was like pulling teeth to get me to cook a grilled cheese sandwich.

I know what you’re thinking: what does this have to do with Jesus? We’ll get to that, but first I have to lay the ground work. I spent time serving and working in every area of the kitchen. Some of that time was spent griping and complaining because I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do, that is, cook. A lot of time was spent just preparing the food to be prepared. This is called “prep work”. Typically there would be a prep cook who prepared the food, someone to peel potatoes, chop onions, and gut fish. But every once in a while the prep cook wouldn’t show up. When this happened, yours truly had to pick up the slack and do double duty.

When I had to “serve” and “work” in this capacity I wasn’t happy. In fact, I was miserable. I was a cook, a chef; I didn’t have the desire to be peeling potatoes and chopping garlic. I had bigger fish to fry (pun intended): a menu to write, sauces to make, steaks to cut. This extra burden caused me mental stress and affected the end product, which was dinner for a paying customer. I wasn’t supposed to work in both areas; I was supposed to work in the area in which I was gifted. Working wasn’t supposed to be a sacrifice; it was supposed to be enjoyable.

How does this play into our spiritual walk? Well, I know this may seem a bit irreverent to say, but God is our prep-cook and He never calls in sick! Yes, by all means we are supposed to work, but God doesn’t want us sacrificing, struggling, laboring, and toiling. Jesus wants to take our burdens (Matthew 11:28), not saddle us with more! God has taken the time, He’s come in early, and prepared the work for us. All we need to do is walk in and do it.

On days when my prep cook showed up early and got everything done for me to be able to perform in my sweet spot, cooking and working in the kitchen was the most fun of my entire life. I didn’t have stress (even when there were 300 people waiting for dinner); I wasn’t angry or upset. I was happily working! I sweat, I got tired, but I loved every minute of it.

This is how God wants our Christian service to be! He doesn’t want our Christian works to be a sacrificial hardship that we begrudgingly do to “make God happy” or to simply fill a need in a church. He wants us to enjoy our work. More than that, He wants us to work in our sweet spot. No amount of guilt or manipulation should ever make the Christian volunteer “sacrificially serve” in a ministry they are not designed to serve in. This isn’t pleasing to God; this doesn’t serve His purpose.

Christ died to remove stress, anxiety, hardship, and anger from our lives. Why would He want us serving in a place that gives us all of those things? This is what we have to come to grips with: God prepared everything for us. He first took on the form of a man in Jesus Christ and prepared the way to forgiveness through grace. He took our sins, our sicknesses, and all of our problems and curses, bore them in His own body, and died once for the sins of all (1 Peter 3:18). After that He recreated us (2 Corinthians 5:17),righteously, in Christ for good works, which He prepared for us, beforehand.

Friends, trust that whatever “work” you have before you was prepared in grace. God doesn’t need your works or your service. He doesn’t need your sacrifice (He has His own) to solidify His kingdom. In Christ, we are restored to a Garden of Eden state. Adam had work to do in the garden, but it wasn’t planting and cultivating; it was reaping the harvest. God planted the garden; God grew the fruits and vegetables. All Adam had to do was what God designed him to do: pick and eat.

The same is true for us. If you’re looking for a job, God has already done the work before you filled out the application to ensure that you’ll get hired in the position that’s right for you. If you have a job, God has prepared the way for you to prosper. If you’re in church looking for a place to serve, listen to your heart. Trust that God gave you desires and talents to use. He doesn’t want you to shelve your talents while you halfheartedly serve in a ministry that isn’t for you. Don’t let guilt or manipulation get the best of you. God has prepared the work for you; when you do it, it will be easy and fulfilling.