Occasionally my wife and I have what we refer to as gourmet meals – read frozen. They are usually Healthy Choice, and mine is usually Beef Merlot. You stick it in the microwave and nuke it for 5 minutes and you are ready to chow down.
From time to time I smoke meat for our family. That takes a bit longer than five minutes. The preparation starts with finding the right cut of meat or getting the right size turkey or chicken. I inject all of the meat I smoke with a variety of spices and other liquids. The base is beer to which I typically add mustard, Chipotle Tabasco sauce, mustard, and a number of spices. The night or two before I am to smoke the meat I prepare it by injecting and then marinating the meat overnight.
The next day I get up early, in the case of a turkey really early,
start the fire in the smoker and put on the meat. I use mesquite wood to smoke. The smoker needs to be at a relatively constant temperature of 220 degrees Fahrenheit. So several times during the day I have to check and tend the fire. Additionally I have to check the meat to make sure that it is cooking evenly and in some cases baste it as it cooks. For a turkey it will take 16 – 20 hours depending on the size of the bird. Briskets take about an hour a pound so about 10 hours. But the meal is still not ready.
After I take the meat out of the smoker, we cover it and let it rest for about an hour before we carve it. Each piece of meat, turkey, brisket, chicken, or ribs, have to be carved in a specific way to make the meal most enjoyable.
While I am carving the meat my wife has set the table and has cooked the side dishes. That process can take up to two hours.
Then we eat. It is good.
We can approach the Bible similarly. We can nuke it for five minutes, or we can engage in preparation, marinade, slow cooking, resting, carving, and garnishing with side dishes.
Which do you think will result in better results in our knowledge of Christ?
The next day I get up early, in the case of a turkey really early,
start the fire in the smoker and put on the meat. I use mesquite wood to smoke. The smoker needs to be at a relatively constant temperature of 220 degrees Fahrenheit. So several times during the day I have to check and tend the fire. Additionally I have to check the meat to make sure that it is cooking evenly and in some cases baste it as it cooks. For a turkey it will take 16 – 20 hours depending on the size of the bird. Briskets take about an hour a pound so about 10 hours. But the meal is still not ready.
After I take the meat out of the smoker, we cover it and let it rest for about an hour before we carve it. Each piece of meat, turkey, brisket, chicken, or ribs, have to be carved in a specific way to make the meal most enjoyable.
While I am carving the meat my wife has set the table and has cooked the side dishes. That process can take up to two hours.
Then we eat. It is good.
We can approach the Bible similarly. We can nuke it for five minutes, or we can engage in preparation, marinade, slow cooking, resting, carving, and garnishing with side dishes.
Which do you think will result in better results in our knowledge of Christ?
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