Sweet Water, Sweet Life

I tried making orkuih (wu tao ko) yesterday, using a recipe culled from the web. Sad to say, my sis found it not up to my mom's standard. Sadder still, none of us had the interest to get my mom's recipe when she was still around. By the time my mom got terminally ill, it was more important then to look into her comfort than into her recipes of various comfort food that we crave for now.

This afternoon, helped my niece to make peanut-butter cookies with Snickers mini-bars; hmmm, much too sweet for my liking. Besides sugar, a whole lot of peanut butter, honey and of course the caramel-filled Snickers mini-bars went into the cookies. Whoever concocted the recipe must really have a sweet tooth!

Also tried making konnyaku jelly. I was horrified when I measured out the amount of sugar required - 210 gm on the packeting didn't mean anything to me when I read the pre-printed recipe on the packeting, given my lack of experience in cooking and baking. But when the sugar filled almost a whole rice bowl, I cringed at the extra calories that may add to my hip and waist which I strived so hard to keep trim and slim.

In Moses' time, he didn't need sugar for added sweetness. He threw a piece of wood, which the Lord showed him, into water that was too bitter to drink, and the water became sweet. Here, we see God's unfathomable power to provide divinely for the needs of his people.

"22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.
23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.)
24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them.
26 He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you."
(Exodus 15 : 22 - 26)

There is another instance of God's healing of the water. Ever heard of adding salt to make water sweet? Well, nothing is impossible with God. While on a holiday trip to Israel with Bishop Samuel Doctorian in 1999, the group of 140+ of us drank fresh water that still flowed sweet at a place reputed to be "Elisha's well", where the prophet Elisha threw salt in to heal the unwholesome water. And I remembered vividly the good Bishop preaching that Jesus puts salt into our life and turns our bitterness into sweet life.

"19 The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."
20 "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the Lord says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'"
22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken."
(2 Kings 2 : 19 - 22)

Grace and peace in the Lord Jesus.