“My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”
John 10:10b NLT
The snow was flying and blowing in blizzard proportion. Undaunted by the conditions, several of our kids and grandkids ventured over to our house for a family dinner.
Opening the front door was an invitation for winter to invade, but when there are grandkids on the other side, the door flings freely and widely. Joy swirled even as the snow piled up.
Moments after coats, hats and gloves had been removed, the adults informally gathered in the kitchen. Conversation and laughter were in full swing. My attention, however, drifted to the uncharacteristic silence that surrounded three of our grandchildren. Silence isn’t golden unless it’s connected to reading time or naps… and because neither was happening I investigated.
It didn’t take long to locate the three. They were huddled by the front door that they had just entered completely focused on eating the snow that had just been tracked into the house. Little fingers pinched the granules together as they were whisked into the waiting mouths of delighted children.
The supply of snow was easily identified; in fact, they were eating off of the footprint made by a daddy-sized boot. The food inspectors had clocked out for the day, and these children had considered permission for such matters to be unnecessary bureaucracy and so they quickly indulged.
The irony was that just several feet away from them was a pristine pile of accumulating snow. Pure, perfect, refreshing supplies of frozen precipitation were falling in uncontrollable proportion… yet our three little ones were content to eat what was left from the bottom of a boot.
The humor of the discovery quickly dissipated into a soul wrenching reality. This picture revealed more than the foolish tendencies of children; it also exposed a condemning truth.
I nibble at morsels of snow that are the leftover footprint of somebody else’s adventure, all the while ignoring the blizzard of fresh and pure refreshment that is available in blizzard-like proportion.
I am lazy, and foolish, and preoccupied, and amused, and far too easily satisfied with morsels; with scraps; with leftovers… when a banquet awaits.
Sober judgment has replaced a portion of what I so quickly found entertaining; for in my little grandchildren I saw a picture of me… a picture I couldn’t find amusing.
The snow is falling in blizzard proportion. Somebody else’s footprint should never be enough.
Through God’s Word, in times of meditation and prayer, by way of corporate worship and in strong biblical teaching I have a mounding drift of food for my soul. How and why would I ever be satisfied in nibbling?
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