The Dreamer of Fortune Cookies

One of the best parts of eating in a Chinese restaurant is not having all the wonderful dishes at the buffet table, but rather at the end of the meal when we receive the fortune cookies. 

About a month ago,  I got my fortune cookie after the meal and quickly ripped it in half.  Laying the cookie aside, I went right for the fortune.  The small strip of paper had these encouraging words, “You will have a long and healthy life.”  That’s a good one.  Come to think of it, I never have opened a fortune cookie that told me something bad, although I have heard there are some cookies in special packages that are downright mean predictions. 

So I did a little research to see how this all got started.

To my amazement, the fortune cookie, like chop suey, is not Chinese but the results of a U.S. dreamer and inventor.   Fortune cookies actually originated in Los Angeles, where Canton-native David Jung, a baker and restaurateur, began making cookies with thin slips of paper inside sometime around 1920.  His purpose was to give people good feelings about themselves, even during troublesome times. Jung founded the Hong Kong Noodle Company, which was producing more than 3,000 cookies an hour in the 1920s.

In some ways, the Bible is like a fortune cookie.  It has words of encouragement, love, forgiveness, and hope that are perfect for everyone today.  Everywhere we study the Scripture we find direction for our lives. 

But reading and studying Scripture should never be as casual as eating a fortune cookie, yet how often do we do just that.  We open it up, take out the words we want to read and toss the rest aside. 

Instead God’s Word is just giving us a smile but we need to take the time to build a relationship with the One who gives us a fortune each day.  It is the thrilling fortune (message) along with blessings seen and not seen in which demonstrates that the Creator of the universe is in love with us. 

Meditating on the words and making them live in our hearts will give us more wonderful fortunes than the 3,000 cookies baked in an hour back in the 1920s.

1 John 2:14   I write to you, my children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One.

Blame Game - It's Not My Fault

Recently, it was announced on TV that a man who smoked all his life is suing a tobacco company for an enormous amount of money.  His legal claim is that although he had developed terminal cancer from smoking, he was not responsible for getting lung cancer.  It was someone else’s fault.  Today a lady, who was texting while walking in a mall, fell into the center fountain.  She is suing the mall for not have rails to block her.  It wasn't her fault.  My bride said that if someone ran into her texting, she would be suing them too.

 You see this scenario played over and over again in today’s society.  People who break many laws are claiming in court that it was not their fault.  A terrorist claims he was tricked into killing 277 people and it is not his fault.  People blame environment, society, other people, and corporations.  This stand has resulted in lengthy court cases and sometimes in financial awards and some with no consequences whatsoever.  What is this world coming to? 

Strange, but this approach is not new.

 God created us with the ability to make choices.  While there are circumstances that focus our lives toward acts of sin and crime, we must look at the director of sin.

 Satan wants us to believe that there are no consequences to our actions.  Adam and Eve were told this lie and they believed it.  They even repeated the lie back to God.  And Adam even blamed God for the sin. 

 When you get a moment, read Genesis 3:1-24.  

As you read the entire story, Satan goes head to head against God’s word.  At the end of this chapter, you see the grave consequences to Adam and Eve for lying and blaming someone or something else.

Today, our society believes Satan’s lies and we hear people say, “Influences beyond our control made us steal, kill, or cause damage to our own bodies”.  We take no responsibility for our actions.   Yet God’s laws say that there are still consequences to sin.

Going through the process of suffering consequences does not mean the end of your life, but can be a growth time in your life that the Lord can use for His glory.  Jesus Christ wipes the slate clean of our sins when we give our lives to Him.  So you do not need Satan’s lies and deceit.   You can use your past to make a difference in a person’s present, so they can be assured of a wonderful future in Heaven. 

 It’s time to take responsibility for our actions, ask forgiveness, and tell Satan that it is his fault and not other people, plus we know Satan’s future.  Be different!  Be true to yourself!

Genesis 3: 12-13   Then the man said to God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.”  And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”  The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”