More.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and 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.”      C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

I'm guilty. 

The monotony of everyday life.  The overworked and under-slept.  The over-committed and under-sabbathed.  The drive-through, instant gratification, easy button life that reeks of mediocrity. 

What I can't wrap my head around is why we would settle for that life.  Jesus says in John 10:10  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it ABUNDANTLY!"  If we believe the Bible to be truth, what keeps us from living the abundant life?!?

I believe two of the reasons we settle for mud pies is perspective and mistrust. 

The whole "can't see the forest for the trees" saying?  That's me.  That's a lot of people I know.  So many things to check off my list.  Watching the clock, gotta hurry, waste not want not.  Meanwhile precious time has passed and I'm not even sure what I was rushing for.  I am not my own.  I was bought at a high price and I wasn't purchased to make the most lovely mud pie ever made.  A mud pie,  no matter how lovely, is still, after all, just mud. 

We were created to bring God glory.  God pulled us out of darkness, out of sin, out of mediocrity and into His light, His joy, His freedom.  Lift your eyes from the mud covered earth and look up!  There is a WORLD of lost souls, of hurting hearts, and troubled minds. Stand up out of that mud hole and go be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Whether you move to a village in Africa, work at a cash register at the grocery store or change dirty diapers all day, don't settle for mediocrity.  Love the unlovable.  Give until it hurts.  Serve without expectation.  Live for more.   

My friend used an analogy once that has really stuck with me.  "It's like eating at McDonald's when you could have a 5 course dinner."  Don't get me wrong, I love me some McDonald's fries just as much as the next person, but let's be honest here.  No perfectly salted and cooked McDonald's fry is any comparison to the explosion of flavors found with each bite of a finely cooked fillet Mignon.  So why do we eat at McDonald's?  Because it's easy.  Because it tastes good.  Because it's cheap.  Because I want to eat NOW. 

And it works.  Momentarily.  For a fleeting moment our mouths are happy, our hunger pangs have stopped and our bellies feel full...Then they feel bloated.  And you start to wonder if that hamburger you just ate was actually hamburger or some processed nasty-ness.  Then your stomach starts to hurt and before long you're feeling guilty for eating McD's and you realize you're hungry again. 

Waiting on God is hard.  What if I deny myself McDonald's and God never makes me a 5 course meal?  What if the 5 course meal that everyone talks about isn't really all that good?  How long will I have to wait for that 5 course meal because my stomach has been growling for years.  Is there some catch to it?  Will I have to do something in order to earn that 5 course meal?   Does God realize that I'm not a fan of raisins or fish? Does He know how I like my steak cooked?  And because I often don't believe He is good and trustworthy, I frequently choose to eat at McDonald's.  And I immediately regret that decision.  Until the next time I choose to eat at McDonald's, and the next time.  Until eventually my taste buds don't even realize what they're missing and my stomach accepts the fast food as normal and I find myself sitting in a pile of mud heaping handfuls of mud on top of handfuls of mud like a lunatic.

There is a song written by Derek Webb called Wedding Dress.  I really like this song despite its somewhat controversial content.  If you know me, you know I love introspection and depth and this song is lyrically weighty.  By far my favorite line is "Cause I am so easily satisfied, by the call of lovers so less wild."  Why am I satisfied with mud pies and McDonald's fries?  We serve a WILD God who invites us to join Him on this crazy adventurous ride.  He promises that He'll guide us and never leave us.  He knows how the story ends.  He  wrote it.  He is the lover of your soul and He knows EXACTLY what you need to truly be full in every area in every way.  What He gives is deep and eternal and satiating and His well never runs dry. 

Call me greedy, but I want more.