As social beings were thrive on interaction and stimulating activities and conversations. We enjoy being around others, discussing common interests, participating in varying levels of competition and performance. We like to be winners and admire those who are. Patience is often rewarded as well as persistence. Tenacity, stick-to-it-tiveness and team effort are highly regarded. We recognize the power and talent each individual brings to the venture. In short we recognize the value of attempting to work well together. Especially when we are asked, “What’s for lunch?”
We also prize our privacy. It is possible to find us at times desiring to live as hermits. We can become so filled up with the social interaction and being with those we enjoy that we are drained to the point of revulsion. We need isolation from the very thing which makes us community. In short we understand the value of coming apart for a time in obedience.
Expression is an interesting tool. We enjoy the opportunities to express our likes and dislikes. Sometimes our expressions give impetus to additional writing or song or oratory. At others it squelches what might have been. Either because we have said what was in the mind to be said or what we said devalued or constrained what could be. So what are you having for lunch?
Lunch is usually a lighter meal. It can be a quick recharge between that healthy breakfast you meant to have and that robust evening feast you feel the need for. Friends can share a time of conversation over lunch. Close friends can even share a lunch. It can also be the respite you desperately need between the pressures of the morning and the expectations the rest of the day brings. We reflect on our expressions and representations while formulating strategies to move forward.
Life has a very difficult time not being complicated. To the best of my understanding that is not what God had intended but He does seem to have made ample provision for it. If there is a cost, we choose to pay it. Do you remember what He told Adam? More or less He said, “Here, go tend this garden” Now Adam had only one rule that we are aware of. I suppose some would say that is because it is the one he failed to follow. Still the account given to us suggests mitigating circumstances and multiple points of failure. Yet in order to succeed there was one clear path and it was not followed.
It got complicated when anyone except God became an authority. It got complicated when ego was given a chance to display itself. It got complicated when the immediate good glossed over the crowning culmination. When the fruit was uneaten and Satan was sent packing there was going to be one thing in place which had Winner, Triumph, Victory and Hoo-Rah! Stamped all over it. It was obedience. Instead it was cast aside as a dirty twisted marred monstrosity which could only be restored on a hill called Calvary. So what’s for lunch?
Obedience is not just the best thing, it is the only thing which can be done in order to be right. If you happen to order your lunch and the server brings back something else, has there been obedience? Will there be reward or consequences? Could you be lenient and still be true to yourself or would you compromise to make the server the orderer and you just the receiver no longer in charge? Complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. A careful attentive server brings you the order you requested and you receive it willingly, pay the bill and tip graciously. Very uncomplicated.
Obviously we can string a myriad of examples together to prove the point or postulate mitigation. Expressing them is one of the joys of engaging our minds. Still rule benders and shortcut takers abound. And unless you want to go on a diet, now is probably not a good time to exemplify the “other options” concerning your food preparation. Adams offense was only partly related to that taste of the fruit. It was only partly related to listening to Eve or Satan or his own desires. His offense is completely wrapped up in obedience. There is but one way, the high way. It is His way, God’s way. Any other choice is the low way. It is the path of destruction. It is your choice. So what’s for lunch?
I keep asking because it matters. What if you were to enter your favorite lunch spot and when the server came to inquire, you simply said, “Whatever you bring me will be fine”. If a mangled dead rat appeared on a plate would you be pleased? I think not. Of course it matters. And it matters if the server if obedient and diligent and gracious and understands the role each of you has in your lunch time. Adam and Eve mattered to God. Their understanding of their roles mattered. There is but one who can be the orderer and it is not Satan. He is just the deceiver. He still attempts to deceive today. Our role, our obedience determines what is for lunch. We go nowhere, we have nothing of any lasting value without Jesus. He is God and we are not.
I bow my head and give thanks at my meals. Most of the time it is done out loud and on purpose. Occasionally it is more subdued. I hope that is because I am being obedient to Him and not cowering in fear before another. There are times when I enjoy the friendship and fellowship of others at meals and there are times when I enjoy the solitude of me and Jesus. Because it is then, while I am enjoying my meal, that I can ask Him, “What’s for lunch?”