Is It a Feast?
One of the shows Jason and I are currently enjoying is Guy’s Grocery Games. Though I’m not a fan of many cooking shows, this one is unique and fun enough to keep me coming back for more. The principle is four chefs compete for a chance to win $20,000. Each round of the competition involves a challenge and some form of a warped game to make the chefs sweat. For example, the challenge may be to fix a high-end feast. The game could involve a budget, shopping in select aisles of the store, using only canned foods, being forced to incorporate some horrific ingredient, or one of many other messed-up scenarios. The chefs have thirty minutes to shop for the ingredients and prepare their dishes for the panel of judges.
While I don’t envy the contestants on the show, I don’t envy the judges either. They have a difficult job. They have to taste four outstanding dishes and decide which of the contestants will go home after each round. With such high-caliber cooking, the selection often comes down to who had the best gameplay. What I mean by that is, the judges will say things like, “This was a delicious dish, and I want to keep eating it, but is it really a feast?”
I have to ask myself that question a lot when it comes to my daily time with the Lord. Is it a feast? God has prepared a table for me and invited me to come and partake any time I want. The spiritual food is ready and waiting. I need only stop long enough to sit down and enjoy. But many times, I feel so rushed, so busy, that I enjoy a quick meal but not really a feast. It’s not God’s fault. He’s provided the feast. It’s my fault for not making that time more of a priority. And when I forsake the feast, I miss out on so much.
Can you relate? Do you find yourself hurrying through your Bible reading or rushing through your prayer time? Do you tend to race off as soon as your devotion time is done without another thought about what took place during that time? If so, I challenge you today—along with challenging myself—to take the time to enjoy the feast God has set before us. He longs to bless us, to strengthen us, to love on us. He doesn’t ask for much. Can’t we give Him some of our undivided attention?
Tomorrow night, as I lay my head down to sleep, I pray I will look back on my day and say without hesitation, “Now, that was a feast!”
“Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”