Marinaded Steak with Sautéed 

Apples and Arugula

In Him you also, when you heard the Word of truth, the 

Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were 

sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13

Food for the Palate

Ingredients:

8 oz fillet of beef

Marinade

1 cup Red Wine

1/4 cup balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 small Shallots, minced 

3 Tbsp brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Sautéed Arugula 

3 cups of Arugula

1 granny smith apple, sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 Tbsp Lemon juice

zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
 2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp walnuts

Instructions:

Put all of the marinade ingredients in a gallon size Ziploc bag and shake well.  Then add the steaks into your bag and make sure you immerse them in the marinade. Put marinade and meat into the fridge for 2 hours. After 2 hours, cook your meat to the temperature you want. 

Reserve the marinade and put it in a saucepan on medium-high heat and reduce until it starts to thicken. Use it as a sauce for the steak.

In a medium sauté pan on medium-high heat, add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Add sliced apple, garlic and cook until garlic light brown, 2-3 minutes (don't leave them, they will burn fast if you turn your back). Turn your pan down to medium-low and add walnuts, salt, pepper and lemon zest. Sauté for 2 minutes stirring constantly. 

Add your arugula to your pan. Pour the lemon juice over the arugula. Sauté the arugula for 5 minutes. Put your Sautéed arugula on a platter. Slice your steak, layer it on the arugula and top it off with the sauce. Ready to serve. Tasty to the Palate! 

Food for the Soul

A marinade simply means a sauce, typically made of oil, vinegar, spices, and herbs, in which meat, fish or other food is soaked before cooking in order to flavor or soften it. In simple terms we could say that “the meat and marinate become one”.

This reminds me of how it is for us humans once the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts. Once the Holy Spirit lives in the believer, He brings about life-changing results. The Bible teaches that anyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior receives God’s Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation: Ephesians 1:13, In Him you also, when you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Once this happens, we can’t help but be changed from the inside out. 

Much like a meat marinade, our hearts begin to soften and we start to see things in a new and different way, God's way. We start to absorb the character traits of Christ.  As new Christians we begin to take on new attitudes and priorities. We find ourselves more loving. Our level of praise and thankfulness becomes more joyful. We discover that even in the midst of storms we can have peace.   

Our conviction and desire to stay firm and faithful to God overpowers sinful, ungodly behaviors, and we realize that the Holy Spirit has given us the self-control to turn our back on the sin that we used to struggle with on a daily basis.

As silly as it seems to make this analogy similar to a meat marinade, I can’t help but think that it is not that far off. Just as you would put your favorite herbs and spices into a marinade, so God fills us with His Holy Spirit and His fruitful "flavors" begin to change who we are from the inside out. Our hearts begin to soften and desire the things that please Him. Galatians 5:22-23 says, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 Not only will we begin to show the fruit of His Spirit in our lives, but He helps us to understand the wisdom of God and not of man. He transforms us into the person we were created to be. "We become one with the Holy Spirit".

You can take a tough, cheap piece of meat and marinade it for a few hours and completely transform it. In the same way, the Holy Spirit can transform our tough hearts as well.  Like the great theologian A.W. Tozer said: “Religion can reform a person’s life, but it can never transform him. Only the Holy Spirit can transform!”  Satisfying to the Soul!