Maple Syrup

Recently we ate breakfast at a Waffle House. Eating there can be an experience in itself. Fortunately, Waffle House has removed the juke boxes from their restaurants, so one is not bombarded with music that one would not choose. We get enough of that just driving down the street as we are forced to hear music from other people’s vehicles. You know the ones where the bass speaker vibrates the whole vehicle.

I like Waffle House’s waffles, but their syrup bottles are always so sticky. I wonder if they fill these bottles from a gallon container or do they just not clean them well. I hope the former is true because I like the syrup on my waffles. I looked up some info on Waffle House’s syrup and found that it is produced by a company called C. H. Guenther & Son, Inc., which is also known for producing other food products and ingredients for various restaurants and food service operations. Waffle House syrup does not contain any pure maple sap. It is a blend of corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water, and a small percentage of natural and artificial flavors to mimic the taste of maple syrup. After learning that information, it does not seem so tasty.

We were vacationing in northern Vermont last fall, and we learned a lot about the production of pure maple syrup. We have never bought any pure maple syrup before as it was always so expensive. We had received a couple of bottles as gifts in the past, and we really enjoyed the pure maple syrup on pancakes, French toast, and waffles.

We picked out one of the many farms that produced the syrup to visit and learn more about the production of the syrup. We were surprised to see a ginormous store at the farm. There was a large parking area with lots of tourists browsing through the shop. We decided to purchase some pure maple syrup.

After eating a maple ice cream cone and sampling several types of pure maple syrup, we chose the one we liked best and bought a gallon of pure maple syrup. I gagged at paying $71.95 for pancake syrup!

At the maple syrup farm, we discovered that it takes approximately 40 gallons of maple sap to produce one gallon of pure maple syrup. The juice is boiled down to make delicious maple syrup.

Recently, I felt better about paying $72 for the gallon of pure maple syrup at the farm in Vermont because that comes to $.52 per ounce, and the Waffle House fake maple syrup costs $1.08 an ounce on the Walmart website. Ouch! And kudos to my wife for convincing me to buy the gallon of Vermont pure maple syrup. What you see is what you get!  

The popular expression “What you see is what you get” has been in general use since the 1940s, but comedian Flip Wilson popularized this expression on his TV shows in the 1970s. In the early days after the desktop computer was introduced, the expression was given an acronym like many other expressions—WYSIWYG.

If someone thinks they are buying maple syrup in the supermarket, all you have to do is read the label and you will find that most maple syrups have no maple juice at all. WYSIWYG!

In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich young guy lived like the money-loving Pharisees and they believed that life in eternity would be the same as life on earth. He anticipated living in endless pleasure and ease, just as he had on earth, while others, such as his servant Lazarus, would suffer eternally. Jesus astounded His audience by revealing that after death, these two men would swap places. While Lazarus would find bliss in heaven, the rich man would suffer the torments of hell.

So, for rich young man and the Pharisees, what they saw is not what they would get. The bountiful life of ease that they experienced on earth is what they thought they would receive after death.

Many people today think they will inherit eternal life with God because they are good people who live good lives and have done many good deeds.

We are not “good.” Only Jesus can claim to be good. We are sinners, worthy of divine wrath, and we need divine mercy. That mercy has been offered in the person of Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. Jesus now offers us His righteousness, not that wrath. To gain that eternal life like Lazarus, we must admit that we are not "good.” We are sinners bound for eternal life in hell. We must ask forgiveness for our sins, accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and live a life that honors Jesus. In Him we are not only forgiven but declared righteous before God because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.