What's for Lunch? Cole Slaw...

Yesterday morning, as per my usual routine, before I left out the door for the office, I opened the refrigerator door and peered into the great abyss. I do this every work day excited to find what leftovers are available to take to work as my lunch of the day. If I'm lucky, it will be one of Regina's famous dishes. If the refrigerator is bare, well it's whatever is available.

Now, I could make a sandwich if I wasn't so lazy (or in a rush to get going). Or I could even buy my lunch (if I wasn't so cheap). But the truth is that I really do enjoy taking bits and pieces of things - leftovers - and making that my noon meal of the day. However, yesterday was different.

All that was in the refrigerator was cole slaw. To make matters worse, it was mayonnaise slaw and not vinegar slaw which I am more partial to. It was what was left of the "penny item" that Regina gets as a promo from a local supermarket and it had been in there a few days because no one in our family particularly likes mayonnaise based cole slaw. Even worse, there was lots of it.

So...because I'm lazy, cheap and in a hurry, I have a tub of mayonnaise slaw for lunch. Please don't get me wrong, I am not a cole slaw basher and I have nothing against folks who love cole slaw (even mayonnaise based). Its just that when I pulled my lunch out at noon and saw the tub of slaw I thought, "Really? I settled for this?"

In our spiritual lives, we tend to do the same thing if we are truly honest with ourselves. We tend to "settle" for good enough when God has even better for us. Maybe it takes too much effort or maybe we're just in a hurry to get somewhere. Maybe it just costs too much to quit striving and receive what God really has planned for us. In many respects, I settle for spiritual "cole slaw" when God really has something much more tasty and filling in store for me.

I look at the Old Testament and am constantly amazed that the nation of Israel seemed to always settle for something else besides God. "Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!" (Ps 34:8), urges King David. And yet constantly after tasting the goodness of the Lord, the people immediately go back to the gods of the land and settle for "cole slaw."

I don't know about you, but today, I choose not to eat cole slaw...