Whew! It’s over for another year. Some of it is in the freezer—blueberries, strawberries, tomato sauce, corn, pole beans, white acre peas, blackeyes, and limas—but quite a bit sits on the shelves of the back pantry in those clear sturdy Mason jars: two kinds of cucumber pickles, squash pickles, okra pickles, pickled banana peppers, pickled jalapenos, tomatoes, salsa, ketchup, tomato jam, strawberry jam, pepper jelly, pear preserves, muscadine juice, and muscadine jelly.
The first time I ever canned I was scared to death. First, the pressure canner scared me. I had heard too many stories of blown up pots and collard greens hanging from the ceiling like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but once I had used it a few times without incident, and really understood how it worked, that fear left me.
Home canners are actually not just decades old, but centuries. French physicist Denis Papin invented a "steam digester"—the first pressure cooker. Born on August 22, 1647, he also suggested the piston and cylinder steam engine, which was invented later by someone else, but his designs were the impetus. Papin's Digester, as his pressure cooker was called, raised the cooking temperature inside to 266 degrees, which cooked foods quicker without losing their nutrients.
I may be an old hand at the pressure canner these days, but I still follow the rules. If I don't, it will blow up. No amount of sincerity on my part will keep that from happening if I let the pressure get too high.
I also follow the sterilization rules and the rules about how much pressure for how long and how much acidity is required for steam canning. Botulism, a food poisoning caused by foods that have been improperly canned, is a particularly dangerous disease. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, blurred vision, muscle weakness and eventual paralysis. You’d better believe I carefully follow all the rules for home canning. I give away a lot of my pickles and jams. Not only do I not want botulism, I certainly don’t want to give it to anyone else either.
Some folks chafe at rules. Maybe that’s why they don’t follow God’s rules. They want to take the Bible and pick and choose what suits them. “Authority?” they scoff. “Overrated and totally unnecessary.” Authority does matter and a lot of people in the Bible found out the hard way. Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of {by the authority of} the Lord Jesus…Col 3:17. You might pay special attention to the context of that verse too.
God’s people were warned over and over to follow His rules, to, in fact, be careful to follow His rules, Deut 5:1. I counted 31 times in the Pentateuch alone. Not following those rules resulted in death for many and captivity for others. When Ezra and Nehemiah brought the remnant back to Jerusalem, once again they were warned, at least five times in those two short books. Maybe suffering the consequences of doing otherwise made the need for so much repetition a little less.
David had a way of looking at God’s rules that we need to consider. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside, 2 Sam 22:22,23. Many of David’s psalms talk about God’s rules, but the 119th mentions them 17 times. David calls those rules good, helpful, comforting, righteous, praiseworthy, enduring, hope-inducing, true, and life-giving. How can anyone chafe at something so wonderful?
People simply don’t want rules, especially with God. God is supposed to be loving and kind and accept me as I am. No. God knows that the way we are will only bring death. We must follow the rules in order to live. We must love the rules every bit as much as David did. I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules…My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times…When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord…Great is your mercy O Lord, give me life according to your rules, 119:7, 20, 52, 156.
I get out my canning guide and faithfully follow the rules every summer. I never just guess at it; I never say, “That’s close enough.” I know if I don’t follow those rules someone could die, maybe me or one of my good friends or one of my precious children or grandchildren. I bet there is something in your life with rules just as important that you follow faithfully. Why then, are we so careless with the most important rules we have ever been given?
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, 1 John 5:3.
Dene Ward
The first time I ever canned I was scared to death. First, the pressure canner scared me. I had heard too many stories of blown up pots and collard greens hanging from the ceiling like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but once I had used it a few times without incident, and really understood how it worked, that fear left me.
Home canners are actually not just decades old, but centuries. French physicist Denis Papin invented a "steam digester"—the first pressure cooker. Born on August 22, 1647, he also suggested the piston and cylinder steam engine, which was invented later by someone else, but his designs were the impetus. Papin's Digester, as his pressure cooker was called, raised the cooking temperature inside to 266 degrees, which cooked foods quicker without losing their nutrients.
I may be an old hand at the pressure canner these days, but I still follow the rules. If I don't, it will blow up. No amount of sincerity on my part will keep that from happening if I let the pressure get too high.
I also follow the sterilization rules and the rules about how much pressure for how long and how much acidity is required for steam canning. Botulism, a food poisoning caused by foods that have been improperly canned, is a particularly dangerous disease. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain, vomiting, blurred vision, muscle weakness and eventual paralysis. You’d better believe I carefully follow all the rules for home canning. I give away a lot of my pickles and jams. Not only do I not want botulism, I certainly don’t want to give it to anyone else either.
Some folks chafe at rules. Maybe that’s why they don’t follow God’s rules. They want to take the Bible and pick and choose what suits them. “Authority?” they scoff. “Overrated and totally unnecessary.” Authority does matter and a lot of people in the Bible found out the hard way. Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of {by the authority of} the Lord Jesus…Col 3:17. You might pay special attention to the context of that verse too.
God’s people were warned over and over to follow His rules, to, in fact, be careful to follow His rules, Deut 5:1. I counted 31 times in the Pentateuch alone. Not following those rules resulted in death for many and captivity for others. When Ezra and Nehemiah brought the remnant back to Jerusalem, once again they were warned, at least five times in those two short books. Maybe suffering the consequences of doing otherwise made the need for so much repetition a little less.
David had a way of looking at God’s rules that we need to consider. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside, 2 Sam 22:22,23. Many of David’s psalms talk about God’s rules, but the 119th mentions them 17 times. David calls those rules good, helpful, comforting, righteous, praiseworthy, enduring, hope-inducing, true, and life-giving. How can anyone chafe at something so wonderful?
People simply don’t want rules, especially with God. God is supposed to be loving and kind and accept me as I am. No. God knows that the way we are will only bring death. We must follow the rules in order to live. We must love the rules every bit as much as David did. I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous rules…My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times…When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord…Great is your mercy O Lord, give me life according to your rules, 119:7, 20, 52, 156.
I get out my canning guide and faithfully follow the rules every summer. I never just guess at it; I never say, “That’s close enough.” I know if I don’t follow those rules someone could die, maybe me or one of my good friends or one of my precious children or grandchildren. I bet there is something in your life with rules just as important that you follow faithfully. Why then, are we so careless with the most important rules we have ever been given?
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, 1 John 5:3.
Dene Ward
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