I was born in a Navy hospital in Pensacola, Florida. No one knew I was breech until the wrong end of me presented itself to the doctor. Fortunately I didn’t take too long coming out and there were no complications. I did earn the affectionate nickname of “Froglegs” for the first few days of my life.

Everyone has a birth story. Children delight in hearing about their births, and mothers love telling the details of how their babies came into the world. A birth is a miracle and often brings tears to the eyes of those who witness it.

Most births quickly fade from memory, but one will never be forgotten, even into eternity. It was ordinary from outside appearances, but its significance was felt around the world and continues to affect the lives of people everywhere.

This birth story is retold every year, to the point it’s become cliché in some circles and scorned in others. But it was the most important one in history and needs to be told often. Perhaps a slightly different perspective can keep it fresh.

 When Jesus was born, he became Emmanuel, God with us. Up until this point, God was “with us” only in specific ways and with certain people. He showed his presence in the pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He was with Moses in the burning bush and with Joshua when the walls of Jericho fell down. But he wasn’t really with us.

His birth as a human made him touchable, gave him eyes, ears and a mouth. He talked to us, listened to us, laughed with us and touched us. He became more real to us than he had ever been. And he knew what it was like to cry and feel pain. Through his suffering and sorrow, he understood our suffering and sorrow. He was with us and he was one of us.

By becoming one of us, Jesus answered the timeless lament: no one understands me. Hebrews 4:15 says he is a high priest who can sympathize with us because he went through all the temptations facing every one in every age. As The Message puts it, “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality.” He has walked the proverbial mile in our shoes.

 A common misperception is that God lives in an ivory tower, far away and far above us. While this could be seen as the case in Old Testament times, there is now no basis for believing this. Jesus lived in a body just like ours. He identifies with the human condition and we can identify with him. God with us is still with us. When he died, we died, and when he rose, we rose. Because he lives, we live. And because he started out as a baby, he knows us, understands us and loves us anyway.

 The birth of Jesus was more than the account of one more human born into this world. It was God’s way of showing how much he loves us.

At this time of year, as many of us celebrate Thanksgiving, our thoughts turn to being grateful. Even those who don’t believe in our generous God celebrate Thanksgiving. But what do we as a society think about the rest of the year – perhaps entitlement? It seems as if the idea of deserving the best in life has replaced being grateful for having anything at all.

 A poor person is thankful to have a crust of bread. But what about those who aren’t really in need? Are they thankful? Or do they think they deserve more and better bread than what they have and disdainfully reject whatever isn’t good enough?

 The Bible tells the story of a woman who compared herself to a dog begging for crumbs from the table (Matthew 15:22-28). She came to Jesus asking for healing for her daughter. When the disciples asked him to send her away, Jesus said he came to the lost sheep of Israel . Her status as a gentile made her seemingly undeserving of his help. She understood all too well what he was saying and that’s when she humbly asked for crumbs from the master’s table. She had no sense of entitlement and was grateful for whatever fell her way.

 Contrast this to the Pharisees who had nothing but contempt for such people as this woman. They thought their birth status alone made them better than her and as such, they deserved the rights and privileges she was rightfully (in their eyes) denied.

 Another example of entitlement is found in Luke 18:9-14. The tax collector who knew he was a sinner humbly prayed, understanding he wasn’t worthy of being forgiven and was entitled to nothing. The Pharisee praying next to him proudly beat his chest and knew he deserved only the best.  

 Those of us who understand that everything we see and have comes from God should be thankful every minute of every day to have air to breathe and food to eat. Life is not something to be taken for granted – it could all be over in a moment. We also understand we don’t deserve anything but death. The only reason we are alive and can look forward to being alive forever is the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Savior.

 As we in some countries celebrate our Thanksgiving holidays, let’s remember we are a little like the woman begging for crumbs from the master’s table. We can be thankful we have a loving and generous master who has mercy on us and decided long ago to give us not just crumbs, but the best he has to give. We have only to believe and accept his grace and love, with gratitude in our hearts.  

October - Repot Your Thoughts

I’m a big fan of potted plants. They’re my favorite decoration, inside and out. I especially like flowering plants, and have them in several places around my house, on the patio and the porch. Every so often plants need to be repotted. It’s easy to know when, as they either become too big, or get root bound and stop growing. My spider plants become root bound every couple of years. When I repot them, I always marvel that the soil is mostly gone and the pots are filled with roots.

Just as a plant can become root bound, we can become bound in our thinking. Our thoughts can get all tangled up like roots in a small pot, smashed and squashed, with no room to go anywhere. When we become root bound, we get into one way of thinking, and then we can't get out of that rut.

We call this being narrow minded and it can happen in anyone, young or old. You can tell when people’s minds are root bound, as they are not open to new ideas, get mad when someone questions their opinions and continue doing things the way they’ve always done them.

This root-bound mentality keeps people in the past and can also be dangerous. Just as a plant stops growing, so a person can stop growing. But the Bible says not to let this happen. Romans 12:2 says we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Spiritual transformation, as we know, is not an overnight process. It takes place every day in the life of a believer who seeks God and his kingdom. We practice the spiritual disciplines, seeking to become more like Christ, to have his mind and to learn to think as he does.

Our thinking cannot be in the box when it comes to spiritual growth. We must be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. After all, we don’t know everything, and if we think we do, look out!

The best place to go to keep our minds open and flexible is the Bible, because it is the living Word of God. We’ve probably all experienced reading a part of Scripture and thinking we understand it, then reading it again and getting something new from it. The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Scriptures. It’s a mistake to think we know all we can know from a scripture just because we read it once a few years ago.

We can also benefit from other Christians. Early theologians such as Athanasius to contemporary ones such as Dallas Willard are some of the “great cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12. Of course, whenever we read anything other than the Bible, we need to make sure the teaching squares with Scripture.

Let’s keep reading and learning and not let ourselves get root bound in our thinking. Rather, as Ephesians 3:17 says, let’s give our roots room to grow deep into the soil of God’s love and strong in his grace.  

The butler in the dining room with a wrench! Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with a candlestick! Most people will recognize these phrases from the game of Clue. For those not familiar with Clue, it’s a board game where the players receive clues about a crime and the first one to solve it wins.

Mysteries are fun, whether in books, movies or games. I enjoy the twists and turns of a good whodunit, though I’m not too good at solving them. Perhaps you’re not a mystery fan. But if you own a Bible, you hold one of the greatest mysteries of all time in your hands. Some of the mysteries are unsolvable, at least for now. For example, we don’t know the authors of some parts of the Bible. Answers to many questions about what happens after death must wait.

How the words can be relevant after 2,000 years is a wonder. The Bible is called the living Word – how that is possible is a mystery of the Holy Spirit. And then you have God himself – he is in many ways unfathomable to us, especially his triune nature.

The Bible does provide clues about many of its mysteries, if you read it with that in mind. I like to look for clues that round out my picture of who God is. Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s masterpiece. Most of us read it thinking of ourselves as a masterpiece. But this is actually a clue about God, telling us he is an artist – an artist with a beautiful piece, who takes delight in his work and has a purpose for it.

Again in Ephesians 5:19, Paul says when the Holy Spirit leads us, we will sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Normally we read this thinking about the singing we do. But this is also a clue about God. He’s a musician and he has given us the gift of song, which pleases him.

We’ve been given other clues about who God is, and they are all around us in nature. I love to watch the hummingbirds come to the feeders in the morning and evening. They are beautiful creatures, so tiny but so fast, and they buzz all around the yard, chasing each other and chittering loudly. Job tells us God created all the animals, and from the variety we see his imagination, genius and artistry.

David said the heavens declare God’s glory. All we have to do is look up in the night sky to believe this. We can see more of God’s imagination and creativity through the technology that allows us to see things light years away. Every day I check a website from NASA showing amazing pictures of nebulas, galaxies and constellations. These are yet more clues about our Creator.

In Jesus’ prayer in John 17, he said, “This is the way to have eternal life – to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” (NLT). When we look for clues about who God is, we’re not just playing a game, we’re experiencing the joys of eternal life by getting to know our wonderful God.

It’s been said we do what we really want to do and the rest is just excuses. This must be true. I can’t seem to find the time to do the ironing, but I make time to go bowling once a week. I also manage to see a movie or two each week (usually rented), but can’t seem to find the time to clean out the garage. So when I say, “I didn’t have time to do such and such,” I really mean I didn’t want to do it.

Everything we do or don’t do involves making a choice. This includes our spiritual life. We make a choice every day to pray or not to pray, to read scripture and spend time with God or not. We also choose how close we will be to the Lord. Author J. Oswald Sanders said, “We are now, and we will be in the future, only as intimate with God as we really choose to be” (Enjoying Intimacy With God).

Sanders describes four circles of intimacy with God: the outer circle, the second circle, the third circle and the inner circle. Jesus’ outer circle consisted of the 70 he called and sent out two by two to preach the gospel. The 12 disciples made up the third circle. In the second circle were the three who were closest to him: Peter, James and John. But one was especially close; one seemed to have a special place next to the Savior.

John described himself as the one “whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). He was the one who reclined next to Jesus at dinner and through whom Simon Peter asked about Jesus’ betrayer.

Did Jesus love John so much because Jesus played favorites? Was John teacher’s pet because he was special or perfect? Jesus didn’t have favorites, but John did. John chose that special place because he loved Jesus so much and wanted to be as close as he could get to the Master. And Jesus loved him back, recognizing John’s deep desire to be close. As Sanders says, “Mutual love and confidence are the keys to intimacy.”

Have you ever wanted to be closer to Jesus? God puts that desire in our hearts, but we are the ones who choose how close we’ll be. Perhaps we feel more comfortable in the outer circle, choosing to keep a little distance. Or maybe the second circle is as close as we’ve ever been. It feels so good, moving closer doesn’t seem possible.

Being in the outer circle or the inner circle is up to us. Jesus has already invited us to get closer (Matthew 11:28). “The place on Jesus’ breast is still vacant, and open to any who are willing to pay the price of deepening intimacy” (Sanders).

If we’re willing, we can be close to Jesus in the special place next to his heart. We too can be the ones Jesus loves. It’s a matter of choice.  

As my husband waited at a traffic light, a couple walked across the street in front of him. The woman wore what appeared to be a short, black negligee-type dress. It was a bit transparent and more than a bit revealing. That same day he noticed another woman bend down to pick up something off the sidewalk (she was right in front of him – hard not to notice), and as she did, she revealed more than a little so-called plumber’s cleavage. Joe doesn’t consider himself the fashion police, but he did question their choice of clothing.

It’s hard not to notice the revealing clothing choices of women these days. The fashion seems to be bare as much of yourself as you can legally get away with. But it’s not just a problem with women’s clothing. One town in Louisiana fines men $500 and puts them in jail for six months if they show a lot of underwear. The mayor said he just wants to keep people from seeing too much of their “vital parts.”

One of the morning shows did a segment on how much cleavage is appropriate at the office. Photos of what is and what is not appropriate were shown. I doubt many women will take their advice, as no one likes to be told what to wear. ”Anything goes” has been the fashion mantra for decades. Television and movies only encourage this attitude and have established inappropriate clothing as the new norm.

But does anything go? How much cleavage--front or back--is appropriate? I must admit as the years go by, I’m less inclined to show much skin. Allow me to paraphrase a quotation (possibly Mark Twain, possibly a variation of Proverbs 17:28): Better to dress modestly and be thought youthful, than to dress revealingly and remove all doubt of your age.

Timothy tells us in chapter 2, verse 9, of his first book: “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety” (NIV). The Amplified Bible elaborates in this way: Also [I desire] that women should adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and sensibly in seemly apparel.” He goes on to talk about not going overboard with jewelry, expensive clothes and elaborate hairstyles. Rather, Timothy states, our focus should be on what’s on the inside, which is good character and integrity.

If it’s true that clothing reflects what is on the inside, what we wear gives others clues about our attitudes and intentions. Does this outfit draw attention to my “vital parts”? What am I saying about myself if I wear this? Is it appropriate for the occasion? More important, does it give glory and honor to God?

Summer’s here and no doubt we’ll be seeing a lot of skin and more of people’s vital parts than we want. Let’s make sure we remember Timothy’s words and remember who’s looking – God, our sons and daughters and everyone else!

Most kids learn about magnifying lenses in science class and have fun using them to magnify everything. Insects look like science fiction monsters. Bits of dirt and sand look like a giant river bed or a desert. Turning a magnifying glass on a friend’s face is always good for a laugh.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, didn’t know anything about magnifying lenses. But she did know what she was saying in Luke 1:46 when she felt praise well up inside her at the news she would be blessed to be the mother of the Messiah. “And Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord.’” The Greek verb literally means to make large or big and then, by extension, to make great, to exalt, glorify, praise, extol, magnify. One commentary says: “Mary is magnifying the Lord by telling others how great she thinks he is. With the phrase (in Greek) Mary indicates that her praise for God comes from deep inside her. Her worship is deeply personal; it comes from her heart.”

The song Mary sang is called The Magnificat, which is Latin ”to magnify.” Mary said her soul magnified the Lord (King James, New King James, New Living Translation). The NIV uses the word glorify, while NASB says exalt. The Amplified Version and NLT use magnify and extol. The Contemporary English Version says, “With all my heart I praise the Lord.”

How does a person magnify the Lord? Perhaps the dictionary can give us some clues. One meaning is to make greater in size. When we magnify the Lord, he becomes bigger. J.B. Phillips said, “Your God is too small.” To magnify the Lord helps us and others understand how much bigger he is than we thought or imagined.

Another meaning is to cause to seem greater or more important. Thinking and talking about how great the Lord is helps us understand who we are in relation to him. God’s ways and thoughts are so much higher and greater than ours, and we sometimes have to remind ourselves and each other of this. We can become bigger than him in our own eyes if we’re not careful.

Joe Stowell says, “The purpose of our lives is to let others see what God is like as they watch and experience his love through us.” You could say our lives are like a window through which others see Christ living in us. Others have said we are like mirrors, reflecting him and his love. We could add a magnifying glass to the list. As we live, his character, will and ways become clearer and larger to those watching.

As we live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2:2), we keep the window clean, show a clear reflection and magnify the life and love of Jesus in us. Magnify the Lord, O my soul!  

Think back to the best gift you’ve ever received. What comes to mind? A beautiful piece of jewelry? A nice dinner out? An electronic gadget?

With Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, he gave us many gifts. One of the best was the gift of forgiveness – unmerited pardon for our sinfulness and our sins. As believers, we live in a perpetual state of grace, for which we can never be thankful enough.

But do we extend that grace to others? Jesus said we are to love each other, so much that we, as his followers, will be known by our love. When you think about loving others, do you also think of forgiving them? Can you love someone without forgiving them?

As with a lot of things in life, it’s easier to say the words I forgive you than it is to actually mean them. We often harbor resentment. We remember past offenses long after the other person may have forgotten them. Our thoughts toward the offender sometimes turn bitter and can cause friendships to end. Our lack of forgiveness may cause us to lose perspective. Our hearts can become hardened and our minds might even shut out the voice of God.

The problem of I forgive you being easier said than done might be solved by having a plan to follow after saying the words. If you’re like me, you could use a little help to make the somewhat abstract concept of forgiveness a little more concrete.

At a conference a few years ago, I heard a speaker talk about forgiveness. I didn’t make a note of her name or even which conference. It might have been at Connecting & Bonding. I’d like to share her six statements of forgiveness with you, and at the same time, ask forgiveness for not giving proper credit. If you recognize these, please let me know and I’ll give credit where it’s due.

Six statements of forgiveness:  

1. I forgive ________ for __________.
2. I admit it was wrong.
3. I will not expect ______ to make up for what he or she has done.
4. I will not use the offense to define who that person is.
5. I will not manipulate ______with the offense.
6. I will not allow the offense to stop my personal growth.

These statements help me follow through in my heart what is on my lips, especially if I’m having trouble letting go. They remind me that my lack of forgiveness usually hurts me more than it hurts others. Statements 4 and 5 remind me the person I need to forgive is made in the image of God and is loved and valued by him, just as I am.

We all know we should forgive, just as we have been forgiven. But as with everything else, God is much better at it than we are, and he seems better able to forget the offenses too! Perhaps if we keep this pocket guide handy and with God’s help, we might be able to forgive and forget a little better in the future.

In some fellowships, communion or the Lord’s Supper is a quiet, solemn occasion, at times almost funereal. I used to be afraid to talk before or after our ceremony in an effort to preserve the solemnity. It was almost worse than a funeral.

 But it’s not a funeral, even though we remember the One who died shortly after sharing a last supper with his friends. Jesus said whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are to remember him.

 But how should we remember him? Should we wail and grieve like a group of paid mourners? Should we cry and be sad? Do we remember him by being guilt ridden and apologetic because our sins caused him to go through an awful death – a criminal’s death – on a Roman instrument of torture?

Perhaps there’s a time and place for that – not the guilt, but a time of repentance and confession. Possibly that is best done in private, although sometimes those emotions come out when we think on Jesus’ death.

 But what if we approach this time of remembrance from a different point of view? Jesus had a lot on his mind the night he sat down with his disciples to eat his last meal and talk with them one more time. He had spent three and a half years with these men and felt great affection for them. In Luke 22:15 he said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (NIV). In Matthew 26:18 he said he was planning to celebrate it with them. He knew he wouldn’t eat it again until the Kingdom of God .

 Let’s remember him (Luke 22:19) as the son of God who came to earth to live among us and to be one of us. He’s the One who gave us, in the form of his person, freedom from the law, the chains of sin and the oppression of death. He gave us freedom from fear of the future, freedom to know the Father and freedom to be called children of God.

 Let’s be joyful as we remember the One God anointed to preach good news to the poor, who was sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and to release the prisoners from darkness. He came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who grieve and he bestows on us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61).

Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him. It’s hard to imagine joy so great. It certainly was not human or earthly joy. It had to be the joy of being God! The joy of heaven! The joy of eternity! It’s joy we can’t begin to imagine or describe!

This is the One we remember – the One who changed our grief into joy and who invites us to share his life, now and in eternity. Let’s remember him with smiles on our faces, a shout of joy on our lips and with light hearts filled with the delight of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord!

“Lord, give me patience and give it to me now!” This prayer-joke is usually said in jest, but is more and more becoming a truism in our instant gratification, microwave world. Few are willing to wait for anything these days. Dinners aren’t home cooked anymore – who wants to wait on the oven? Drivers don’t have time to stick to the speed limit. Young people can’t wait to grow up, and as Christians, we often find it difficult to wait to become spiritually mature as well.

Transformation is a process, not a quick fix. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to the world, but to let ourselves be transformed by the renewing of our minds, or as the New Living Translation puts it, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

Even though we can be quick to change our minds about something such as the type of sandwich to eat, wrong ways of thinking become ingrained and not easy to change. Legalism, for example, is a way of thinking that goes deep into the heart and mind. It’s also subtle and deceptive. A person with this mindset is often not even aware of the ways legalism can warp one’s attitudes and perception of the world.

One of the worst effects of legalism is self-righteousness, which makes a person believe they don’t need much transformation. It can also have the equally devastating effect of discouragement, which leads people to give up because they’ll never be good enough. Both of these mindsets can inhibit God’s work of transforming us into spirit-led, mature Christians.

As I’ve discovered in my short time on earth, letting God change the way I think isn’t so easy. I can’t say I haven’t made some progress, at least I hope so. (How does God measure this kind of progress? I believe we shouldn’t try.)

No, it seems it may take a lifetime, and even then, I’m sure I’ll feel I need more time for God to work on me. Paul expressed these thoughts well in Philippians 3. He realized all his law-keeping hadn’t made him perfect. He understood he was a work in progress through God’s grace, but he wasn’t worried about it. Like Paul, we can’t think about how much more there is to do. We can only keep going, putting the past behind and pressing forward to the goal.

Paul likened life to running a race (1 Corinthians 9:24). In Hebrews 12:2, we are told to run the race with endurance, which would indicate we are in a marathon, rather than a sprint. I’ve never run in a marathon (I don’t like running at all), but anyone who has can tell you the key is just to keep going.

With God’s help, we can, slowly and steadily, keep letting him change us, even though it will take a lifetime. If we trust our hearts and minds to the One who gives us the desire to obey him and the power to please him (Philippians 2:13, NLT), he will continue to change the way we think and give us the prize, regardless of the progress we think we may or may not have made.

  Some moments in life stand out in our memories like bright lights in the darkness. One of those times for me was the birth of our son. After five years of waiting and a miscarriage, we were finally in the delivery room, about to grasp the reality of a long awaited child. When the doctor put him on my stomach, my eyes filled with tears and I exclaimed, “Look what I did!” It was a moment of pure joy. I experienced another joyous moment when our daughter was born two and a half years later.

 As every good thing comes from God (James 1:17), I know both my children and my joy came from him. I also know my joy was only an infinitesimally small fraction of the joy God himself feels (I speak in human terms) when a child is born or a sinner comes to repentance. Joy is part of who God is and as much a part of his character as love.

 Joy doesn’t depend on the circumstances in our lives. It comes from a relationship with the Lord. He gives us his joy as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Our connection to him and the intimacy we experience provide the conduit for the fruit of the Spirit.  

  Jesus was a man of joy and as we surrender the self to God, we follow in his footsteps. Oswald Chambers said, “The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do.”

 Sometimes our feelings get in the way of the joy of the Lord. We have down times and get discouraged. We can’t change our feelings, but someone once said: "Our feelings follow our thoughts like baby ducks follow their mother." If we can direct our minds to right thoughts – think of what God has done for us and who he is – our feelings will follow. We can choose to praise God and find joy in the sacrifice of praise he finds so pleasing.  

  David showed us the way in Psalm 143. Feeling overwhelmed and distressed (v. 4), he took time to think about the Lord (v. 5). He remembered God's loving kindness, trustworthiness and guidance (v. 8); his protection and goodness (vv. 9-10); his righteousness and mercy (vv. 11-12). As David meditated on God, his feelings began to follow his thoughts. He became joyful in spite of his feelings.

  David faced many troubles in his life, but it seems he turned to God in those times, letting his thoughts dwell on God and his goodness. The psalms reflect both his distress and his joyful praise.

 Nehemiah 8:10 says the joy of the Lord is our strength. When we praise God, we receive his joy as he blesses us with the fruit of the Spirit. He lets us share part of his nature, strengthens us and bolsters our faith. His joy becomes our joy and his strength becomes our strength. Let the joy of the Lord burst forth like a fountain in your soul!  

January - A Satisfied Soul

   When most people travel, they usually remember famous landmarks as the highlights of their trip. They take pictures, make scrapbooks and regale their friends and relatives with stories of what they saw and did. My son is different. The highlights of trips for him are the meals. He can describe each course of each dinner with pinpoint accuracy. He really enjoys fine food.

 You can probably recall some of your more memorable meals. Perhaps you enjoyed a particularly fine steak or fresh fish. It might have been an ethnic dish, filled with unusual flavors and exotic ingredients. Or perhaps your most memorable meal satisfied because of its simplicity, like the homemade soup and bread we once enjoyed in a Scottish pub.

 Can you recall how you felt after that wonderful meal – the feeling of being full, satisfied, content and thankful? Hold that thought as you read the following verse from Psalm 63: “My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you” (verse 5, NIV).

 David was in the desert when he wrote this, and I’m sure he would have loved a feast of real food. But apparently his mind wasn’t on food, but on something – someone – better. To him, the presence and love of God was just as satisfying as a sumptuous banquet. Charles Spurgeon in The Treasury of David wrote: “There is in the love of God a richness, a sumptuousness, a fullness of soul filling joy, comparable to the richest food with which the body can be nourished.”

 As I pondered why David used the analogy of a meal to picture how satisfied God makes us feel, I realized food is the one thing everyone on earth needs and can relate to. If one has clothing, but is hungry, one is not content. If one has shelter, cars, money, friends – anything one can desire – but is hungry, none of it means much. Except for those who have no food, most people know the satisfied feeling of eating a good meal.

 Food is central to all the celebrations of life – births, graduations, weddings and anything else we can find to celebrate. We even eat at funerals. The occasion of Jesus’ first miracle was a three-day wedding feast. When the Prodigal son returned home, his father ordered a lavish meal. Revelation 19:9 says: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

 God wants us to think of him when we have enjoyed “the richest of foods.” Our stomachs stay full for only a short time, and then we are hungry again. But if we fill up with God and his goodness, our souls will be satisfied forever. Feast on his word, dine at his table, enjoy the riches of his kindness and mercy and praise him for his bounty. Then with singing lips, let your mouth praise God who satisfies us as with the richest of foods!