I really don’t know who it belonged to. It could’ve been my grandmother’s, my aunt’s, or even my mom’s. I truly don’t remember the where of it, as much as I remember the way it looked.

It seemed like it would be more at home in the laboratory of some mad scientist, than in an average kitchen. And the sounds it made…the steam. I remember always being a little concerned that no one was watching it close enough, and that maybe it would defy all those little knobs and just blow through the ceiling one day!

Pressure cookers.

They might be the place from which emerges tasty jams or delicious meats, but doesn’t life sometimes feel like you’re living inside of one? Pressure to succeed, pressure to stand out, pressure to be the one who charts the next great course or births the next world-changing idea. Time starts ticking as the steam starts to build, and your limited number of days on the planet count down quicker than you ever anticipated.

It turns out that this pressure issue started a very long time ago…the first time truth was exchanged for a lie.

The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”

The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.'”

The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.  (Genesis 3:1-6 MSG)

Where we were made for perfect fulfillment and relationship with the Lord, we were tempted, at the very onset of our existence, to step outside that union and make ourselves “more.” Once sin was set in motion with the first bite of that apple, the collective “heat” in the pressure cooker of life started to rise.

Over the years, we have continued to exchange the truth for a lie, believing that if we are perceived as “more,” then our worth and significance will be greater. Things didn’t work out too well for the Woman and her man.

“Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.” Genesis 3:7 MSG

When we do the same thing and stake a claim to our own fame, why should we expect different results?

I’m thinking it’s worth taking a different approach.

“Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.” Isaiah 26:8 NLT

Yeah, I think this approach might just blow the lid right off that pressure cooker.