We had an ice cream incident a
couple of weeks ago. With two college boys, two high-schoolers and a
junior-higher, we have so many ice cream eaters, we buy it in the giant size. It
looks more like a washtub than it does an ice cream container. At least it has
that handy-dandy red handle.
But for some reason Jordan decided to do some ice
cream acrobatics before dessert. Mind you, he's one of the college boys--and
he's studying math and physics. So I'm not quite sure why the math and physics
of it all didn't occur to him, but he was playing some kind of game with his
sister and started swinging the tub by its red handle in a straight-arm
ferris-wheel kind of motion. The math and physics came into focus all too
clearly when the nearly six-foot boy with the long arm span swung the giant ice
cream tub underneath the kitchen light fixture. The flying ice cream knocked the
dome cover off and it landed square on Jordan's head. After knocking a nice knot
on his head (which I'm guessing was probably one of those "V-8" math/physics
moments), it fell to the floor and shattered into a gazillion glass slivers.
It took him forever to clean up all the glass and by
then, I don't think he even wanted ice cream anymore.
I hate to tell you how many times I've caught myself
in the same kind of stunt. Not with the big drum of ice cream. But I all too
often catch myself forgetting the obvious spiritual truths while I'm totally
distracted by the temporary things of the world. Getting caught up in the
world's way of thinking is a sure-fire way to guarantee a head-konking incident
in my spiritual future. Those V-8 moments are just a swing away. First John
2:15-17 says, "Don't love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If
you love the world, you cannot love the Father. Our foolish pride comes from
this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we
see. None of this comes from the Father. The world and the desires it causes are
disappearing. But if we obey God, we will live forever," (CEV).
Living in foolish pride and selfish desires? There's
no real joy there--only discontentment and a life that's fruitless,
directionless and unfulfilled. It may even come with a knot on the head. But a
life lived with a passionate consciousness of God and a deep desire to walk in
obedience brings eternal fruit. It results in sweet satisfaction that doesn't
require the circumstances to be just so-so. It doesn’t require all the world's
frills. And that really is the sweetest way to live!
There's a sweetness there that doesn’t even require
ice cream.
Rhonda Rhea rrhea@juno.com
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