Salad or a Big Mac?

Sally waits in line with her little boy Jack as her mind races.  What should she order for her boy?  Should she order him a Big Mac, and make his day?  Or should she order him a salad because that would be the healthy option?  Satisfaction or heath.  This is what it all boils down to.  Both have there advantages and both have there drawbacks.  What will it be?

We all know that pursuing Jesus is good, but what is "good."  It is good to order the salad, but that isn't the option that will bring Jack the most joy.  Unfortunately, this is often how we view what it is like to follow Jesus.  We know it is the right decision, but it will lack the satisfaction that the alternatives bring.  We want to change, and become more like him, but are afraid that this change will result in boredom and a lack of joy.  Well, this is because we view things all wrong!

"The secret of gospel change is being convinced that Jesus is the good life AND the fountain of joy.  Any alternative we might choose would be the letdown."*  He is the joy and satisfaction of the Big Mac while being the wise choice like the salad.  He is both!  God created us to live in fellowship with him.  This means that our desires find their true satisfaction in him, since that is what they were created for.  This means that there will be no lasting satisfaction in anything apart from Jesus.  This is good news!  You can have both!

Our problem is that we live in a culture where we want things now.  Yesterdays news is boring, answering an email after its been in your inbox for two days is too late, waiting more than 5 seconds for a webpage to load is frustrating, getting stuck in traffic throws our whole day off.  What is our response to our impatience?  It is wanting satisfaction now.  We would rather have a lesser satisfaction now then a greater one later.  I would rather eat the Big Mac now and deal with the consequences later.  Take a step back and really think.  You will realize that Jesus truly is our deepest longing and joy, we are just too impatient to see it and wait for Him.  Joy in him isn't a quick fix, its a long road...and too often we would rather have the quick fix.  It is like a child who has a deep desire for a bicycle.  But instead of saving up for one, he uses his allowance each week on candy.  It satisfies his current desire, but not one of his deepest ones.  I will end with a quote from C.S. Lewis, where he drives this point home:

"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, sex, and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

*Tim Chester in "You Can Change" p15