♪A Note of Thanks ♪
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Those who come to me will never go hungry, and those who believe in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35
Okay, I’ll confess. I love milk chocolate! Oh, I’m not the kind of person who craves chocolate all the time, but sometimes, as my Dad says, “I get a hankering” for some homemade chocolate cake or even homemade chocolate syrup that my Maw King used to make in a cast iron skillet. Especially on Friday nights, Maw King would have two of us at a time to spend the night. At breakfast one of my cousins Jimbo, Tommy, Keith, Marilyn, Deb, Susan, Kem, my sister Judi or I would put a hunk of butter on our plates, pour over the hot chocolate syrup onto the butter, mix it up with our forks and sop it up with little delicate homemade biscuits formed by Maw Kings strong little hands, that in her day, could pick cotton faster than any man in West Cullman County, Alabama.
The other Wednesday night at the church’s evening meal, before Prayer Meeting, Annette had prepared homemade chocolate cake with milk chocolate icing for dessert. I sat next to my dear friend, Kathleen Owens. We didn’t rush our meal, but enjoyed and savored the cherished moments we had around the table. Our conversation revolved around our families, about mutual friends we’ve known through the years and life in general. Towards the end of the meal, Kathleen said, ‘Won’t that chocolate cake keep you awake tonight?” I said, yes, it probably will, but it is so good and reminds me of when I was a little boy attending Barrett Elementary School in East Lake. We would have this wonderful delicious chocolate cake. Our chef, Annette, has learned the art of duplicating what I so enjoyed as a young student in school.
All that being said, did you know that today is Chocolate Day, a day certainly created by the chocolate confectioners of the world. Chocolate Day always falls on July 7th, as if we needed another day to indulge. As I viewed a website called Holiday Insights, I discovered what Chocolate Day is all about and found that they had suggestions for how to eat chocolate all day long: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course, they also claimed that chocolate is a vegetable, since it comes from the Cacao tree found in the rainforests.
When you think about it, no amount of food would ever be enough to satisfy us. In the creation of our physical beings, God ordained that we would find ourselves hungry at intervals in the day and evening, and seek nutrition in order to meet our physical needs. If we think about our spiritual needs, the same holds true. We need a steady and balanced diet of prayer, Bible study, meditation, exercise, rest, play and reflection to grow close to God and to become the people God wants for us to be. In the creation of our spiritual nature, God also seems to have prescribed that on a regular basis we would find ourselves “hungry” for the love of God.
Jesus spoke of that hunger and thirst and wanted us to see beyond our physical bodies and into our spiritual natures. Jesus knew what it was to be hungry as evidenced in the stories about his desert wanderings, but he also knew that the relationship with God was something that could fill our very souls. Does God want us to starve? No, I do not believe that for a minute. But in our American culture where we gorge ourselves on food and drink, where so many of us struggle with obesity and all of the illnesses that derive from being overweight, perhaps it is important to refocus our lives on God.
Spending time in prayer and study, seeking God’s face in our daily living may be the very thing we need in order to be freed from our addictions to food and drink. So, on this Chocolate Day, instead of eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, why not spend the time breathing in the breath of God and as Jesus said, being hungry and thirsty no more.
Holy One, I ask this day that you would fill me up with Your love, with Your Grace and Peace, and with Your Hope for the world. Free me from those things that have hold of my life. Let me give myself to You afresh and anew so that I will never be hungry or thirsty again. In Jesus precious and Holy Name. Amen.
What a joy as we serve along-side each other.
Your friend,
Mark David Jackson
