We are ending our four part #FoodFebruary series with Heat, the element of transformation. Some foods are cooked with low and slow heat to break down the meat’s tough fibers. Other foods are cooked quickly in high heat to brown them. Browning (heat working on the amino acids in proteins) and carmelization (the affects of heat on the sugars in starches) also create new flavors. New flavors!

In the Bible, fire is a symbol of judgment. For the believer who is not under condemnation, however, heat is still a tool of transformation for chastisement and for character.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

…

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Heb. 12:5, 6, 11

Chastisement is punishment when we have done wrong, but it’s not the only heat that we will face in our lives. We live in a fallen world and will experience persecution or trials.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:2-4

Like the layers of flavors that come out in cooking, the heat of trials will give us deeper character and complete us.

So what have we learned about the elements of cooking these last few weeks. Salt makes us thirsty. Fat satisfies us. Acids elevate flavors. Heat transforms flavors. Even cooking brings us to Christ.

We thirst for Christ at salvation and find ourselves satisfied in Him. Then He is our example of selfless servant-hood, and He redeems the trials in our lives to make us more like Himself.

And one day, we will eat with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

What better thing to celebrate during #FoodFebruary than that!

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.