FEASTING OR DUMPSTER-DIVING?
Anyone hungry? How about trying a cotton candy burrito: consisting of Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Loops, marshmallows, Skittles, M & M’s, gummy bears and sprinkles, all wrapped in a cotton candy shell.
Doesn’t tempt your taste buds? Then try chomping down on a pizza burger: a sixteen-ounce Angus patty, with two pepperoni pizzas for buns. Or indulge in a smoked turkey leg, stuffed with dirty rice, covered in Cajun gravy and green onions. Two words: “Alka Seltzer.”
These menu items are actually served at NFL stadiums. With football season recently “kicking off,” perhaps you’ like to indulge your appetite in these delicacies. My culinary desires are more basic.
Sometimes God’s word uses food as a metaphor for spiritual blessings. Jesus identified himself as “the bread of life” (John 6:35). John depicts our eternal intimacy with Jesus as “the wedding supper of the lamb” (Revelation 19:6-9).
But the Crème-de-la-Crème of spiritual delicacies is found is Isaiah 55:1-2, where God invites us to a spiritual banquet. “Everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing]. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy] (AMPC).
God always wants more for us than we want for ourselves. Gluttonizing our physical appetites isn’t what he has in mind. He invites us to a feast much more satisfying—a banquet of the soul. Everything we long for in life—all we pour ourselves into—in an effort to achieve success and fulfillment, he will satisfy.
Chasing after the world’s goodies for fulfillment is the equivalent of spiritual dumpster-diving. Imagine a banquet table laid out, with all of my favorite foods. But I walk away, and choose to dine from a dumpster. It’s just as crazy to reject the delights of the spiritual feast God longs to give us, and choose instead to dive into the dumpster of possessions, pleasure, power or popularity.
The offer is open. A banquet is prepared. Come to the table. If you want to learn more about how to receive Christ’s offer, contact me at BarneyCargile.com.
Principle: God has a spiritual banquet prepared for us.
Ponder:
What “dumpster” items of the world tempt you most?
In what ways have you discovered that the goodies of this world do not satisfy?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Isaiah 55.
Loving Father, thank you for your invitation to a spiritual feast. I open my heart to you and receive the blessings of this banquet.
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