Jesus in all the parts (just like salad dressing!)
By Jessica Brodie
In my family, we’re big salad-eaters. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve standing at the counter in my grandma’s kitchen, helping her shred lettuce, cut up tiny pieces of celery and carrots, and toss it all together in her big crystal salad bowl.
“Make sure it’s tossed really well,” she’d instruct, her hands demonstrating the motion as we’d mix in creamy bleu cheese dressing with balsamic vinegar and oil, then dig the salad tongs in until every vegetable got its consistent, just-right coating.
When I grew up and took charge of my own household, sometimes I’d skip this final step—after all, not everyone liked the same veggies or even the same dressing, so I’d make small bowls of salad, then drizzle everyone’s individual dressing selection over top. But that way was never as good. For one thing, the top portion of the salad got too much dressing, while the bottom didn’t get enough. It might have seemed practical, but it wasn’t very smart, or tasty. The best way has always been Gram’s way—get that dressing in there, saturating every piece all at once.
Perfection.
The other evening, it occurred to me that Gram’s method of salad-making is a great analogy, illuminating why it’s important to have Jesus in all parts of our life.
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Sometimes, we divide our lives into sections that don’t touch. We have our love life in this bin, and our work life in the next. Our friendships go in this bin, while our family goes in that one and church goes over there. Everything is separate, compartmentalized, easy, organized.
While there’s nothing wrong with compartmentalizing—busy people, or those with traumatic, high-stress jobs, often swear by it—there’s one exception: Jesus. Jesus can’t just go in one or two bins. He’s got to go in every one in order for us to live a full, whole, God-centered life.
But we don’t always let Him, do we? Sometimes we keep Him out of the work bin or the friendship bin. Other times He’s everywhere except the love bin—and God help any marriage without Him at the head!
We might convince ourselves we “have to” do this. For instance, maybe we have a job where we can’t talk about our religious beliefs. But that doesn’t mean Jesus “can’t” come to work with us. He’s right there beside us every moment, impacting how we treat others, how we make grace-filled decisions with integrity and compassion.
Jesus needs to be like our salad dressing, saturating every veggie, in order for us to live in Him to the fullest. We can’t shut Him out of any area or it affects the whole.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” (NIV).
Notice the word is “all,” not “some”—trust Him with all your heart, submit to Him in all your ways.
And in Colossians 1:17, the apostle Paul writes that Jesus “is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Think about it. Is there an area in your life you’re not allowing Jesus to saturate? Or have you ever experienced a time when Jesus was absent from a portion of your life, only for you to grant Him access and learn to soar? Share in the comments below how you have experienced this.
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