CHECK THAT COOKING

If you like to help your parents cook, you know that one thing is very important: Don't let the food burn! Some people use timers to help them remember when dinner is ready; others just don't go too far from the stove. But everyone watches over the food somehow.

This week's Gospel (Mark 13:33-37) is about a different kind of watching. Jesus talks about watching for the day He comes back. No one knows when that will be; it could be tomorrow or in a thousand years. But He told us to look for him all the time!

In cooking, it usually takes a certain amount of time until things are done. Cookies take just a few minutes to bake; the Thanksgiving turkey this week took hours to cook! But it's hard to guess exactly when something will be ready, so you open the oven door to peek at it or poke it with a fork to see if it's done.

In a way, Jesus wanted us to keep "opening the oven door." He's going to come back someday, and He hoped we'd remember to keep checking for Him.

When you're cooking, you have to pay attention; but Jesus is a lot more important than food. In the Gospel story, He called Himself the "master of the house," but another name for Him is the "bread of life"!

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