I guess you are expecting to hear me describe how delicious strawberries are when they are covered in chocolate? I am here to complain. Maybe you think I am a chocolate snob, after living in Belgium and tasting the world’s finest chocolates? No, I want good value and bought my chocolates in Brussels grocery stores. Then what’s your complaint?
My wife loves chocolate covered strawberries and eats them every year. If no one them gives to her, she buys some for herself. I like the idea of perfectly ripened strawberries, covered in dark chocolate, that is just firm enough to not to make a mess, but that is where reality sets in. The one I ate today wasn’t ripe, or even close to it. No matter how much chocolate you drown it in, that strawberry wouldn’t taste good! Yes, it had chocolate on the outside, but it was sour on the inside. If the one I picked was like that, the rest most likely have similar problems. In fact, it is hard to find enough perfectly ripened strawberries to meet the demand, so they compromise and sell an inferior product. Even if you happen to get perfectly ripened strawberries, the chocolate breaks and falls to pieces when you take a bite. Maybe they compromised to make it look nice or last longer? I don’t know, but the outcome makes it hard to fully enjoy eating one.
To make things worse, they are expensive, so we try to prolong our enjoyment by only eating one a day. The problem is, if you keep them too long, some of them will go bad and end up in the trash. So, what did all those compromises get us? The seller has our money, and we will go through this whole ordeal again next time! Why is that? We want that perfect combination of fruit and chocolate and will keep trying to get it!
What a frustrating cycle of desire, hope and disappointment. It sounds kind of like the world’s experience with religion. People see something that looks so nice, and they want it for themselves. They pay the high price, hoping it will change their life, but they are disappointed with the results. The outside looks good, but inside it suffers from the same compromises as the world! You can’t mass-produce a relationship with GOD, so they settle for an inferior substitute. Even that good looking façade will fall apart under pressure. More compromise makes it appeal to the masses, but it won’t change them. They are still left with a mess. Sadly, that mess costs you a lot, won’t last and you will keep paying. They want more from you and you fall for empty promises. There must be something better!
There is! “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him…there is no want to them that fear him…they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing” (Psa 34:8-10 KJV). Why not seek a relationship with JESUS, who will not compromise, won’t substitute and won’t disappoint! When the pressure comes, He “will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5 KJV) and “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom 8:31 KJV)?
So how much is this going to cost me? Nothing, “it is by grace are ye saved through faith…it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8 KJV). How can it be? It’s possible because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). Won’t you “taste and see that the Lord is good” today?
Wayne Lance – That’s Good News to Share!