Chives in the Soup

             One cool day this fall, Mother and I agreed on soup. I had thawed a dab of stew meat from the freezer. Mother seasoned it and soon it sizzled a bit as it browned in the large pot.

Our assessment the previous night revealed no onions. Mother wasn’t too disappointed. Her digestive system prefers milder vegetables. I exclaimed, “Mother, I spotted chives growing in several places in the back yard. Why don’t I get some tomorrow morning?” She approved.

Three Clumps of Chives in the back yard. This 
week more than I have ever seen have sprung up!

I zipped out with scissors and a pan the next morning. So many clumps of chives dotted the slightly overgrown lawn. Soon I had plenty of the snipped chives for the soup. As I cut them into smaller pieces, the mild pungency of the chives wafted to my nose. Setting them aside, I began peeling a few potatoes.

I pulled out of the refrigerator the whole tomatoes that I had thawed the previous night. Those tomatoes had been grown in the back yard flower beds and frozen whole a couple of summers ago.

 Soon the meat reached the doneness stage to Mother’s liking. The potatoes, along with frozen carrots slices, were added to the browned beef stew meat. I sliced the thawed tomato into appropriate pieces for the soup. Mother added some tomato juice and did a taste test for a final adjustment of seasonings. Finally, I sprinkled the small, green cylinders of chives on the top and slowly stirred the tantalizingly fragrant soup.

I snapped this photo just before incorporating the
chives into the soup.

After those natural flavors blended, the steaming bowls of homemade soup provided a satisfying lunch.

I mused about foods from the genus Allium mentioned in the Bible. Chives did not make the list, but its cousins - leeks, onions, and garlic, were enumerated among the craved foods of the Israelites led by Moses from slavery. When they wearied of the manna sent daily by God from heaven, these pungent vegetables cropped up in their tirade of complaining found in Numbers 11:5.

Some Jewish historical data indicated the Israelites may have endured from 90-120 years when “…the Egyptians made slaves of them and put brutal taskmasters over them to wear them down under heavy burdens…” recorded in Exodus 1:11. God heard their “groaning” and responded to their cries to Him by calling Moses to lead them from the enslavement of Egypt.

Yet after being delivered from an Egyptian regime that subjected them to slavery and infanticide of their precious babies, the Israelites complained about the manna from heaven. Asaph wrote of the heavenly food or “angels’ food” as he characterized it in Psalm 78:23-25, but this daily provision was disdained by most of those freed by the divine power of the Almighty God.

Like the freed Israeli slaves, we fail to acknowledge the goodness of God in our lives, even though as believers, we know He sent Jesus to redeem or buy us back from our sin. We become part of His family upon receiving this precious gift of eternal life from Him.

With that joy of freedom from sin, its guilt, and shackles, it is hard to understand how we could crave some of those old sinful habits. Paul makes plain in Colossians that the believers should no longer practice the sins of their past. The fifth verse from chapter 3 states explicitly, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immortality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." 

Other less conspicuous sins hamper growth such as ungodly thinking, worrying, an inwardly critical spirit, failing to pray about all decisions or outright complaining. Reverting to these “invisible” sins mirrors the ungrateful Israelites craving the pungent veggies. 

David gave us in Psalm 119:11 and Psalm 34:1 the double-dose remedy to fight slipping back into old habits that derail our walk with the Lord. If we keep His Word in our hearts and minds and praise to Him on our lips, there will be no desire for the sins of our old life.

Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.