Clean Plates
George is asked, what was the highlight of your week? He tells our group that he washed a lot of dishes, volunteering his time at a Christian summer camp. (As an aside, this was week two of full-time volunteering for George and I don’t think he is done yet). I am confident that this young mans generous contributions to meal time success was not even a remote thought to the young campers who were served, fed, cleaned up after and had clean dishes to eat from for every meal consumed. The behind the curtain activities of the many make for fabulous experiences for those who receive unaware. For children, being given food really ought to be an automatic thing. Children are to be taken care of and provided for: teaching them gratitude is essential and yet, sharing with young ones all of the nitty gritty details that goes into say, feeding one hundred plus kids at a time, might just be overkill; the information overload too great to grasp. As a teenager, George is learning rapidly what adulthood looks like and I am betting, he is appreciating his parents that much more these days.
Behind the curtain
Let’s do a tie in, shall we dear reader? While you and I see the mechanics, the how to parts of getting things done, there is a mechanical engineer, The Man behind the curtain, that has taken care of some details we have no clue about. Perhaps you are thinking now about the Wizard of Oz? The button pusher and lever mover? Quite simply stated, God is this dear one. I pray God forgives me for this reductionistic approach but hello, he keeps the sky from falling and he waters the earth so that we can put food on our plates and either hand them to a dishwasher or place them in a machine that automatically does a spit and polish. You may believe you are a rain maker but dear one, this means you are directly deluded. Here, allow me to scare you with scripture:
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Avarice, otherwise known as greed
You see dear reader, the consumerism? The consumption without the thankfulness? The taking without recognizing the hand that extends? Imagine your children, never being grateful? You cannot force gratitude but when the words Thank-You are spoken, it does something for the heart of the giver and the receiver. Without gratitude, the taking becomes a self-absorbed exercise in avarice, otherwise known as greed.
Godlessness gone gangrene
Dear reader, can you see it? Look again to the scary scripture above. We are currently living this reality. It is godlessness gone gangrene. We are rotting as a society. The words written above were a warning to each of us, not only to take a close look at ourselves but also to stay clear and have nothing to do with them, the ones described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Just think on this: God knows exactly what we are like dear reader. People are people and we have always had two options. Thank the hand that feeds, or bite it. Are you a thanker or a biter?
God likes you
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| A full heart is forever thankful |
It isn’t too late. God likes you, he made you after all. Start saying Thank-You God, for your yesterday, today and God willing, your tomorrow. And now, if someone has cooked your food, served it to you on a clean plate and takes that plate away once you are full and satisfied, look them in the eye and tell them you appreciate all their behind the scenes contributions to your wellbeing.
“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).
