A Trip to the Chocolate Factory

Last Saturday, I took my kids out to do a couple of errands. I promised them if they would behave themselves we would go someplace special afterwards. I had heard about a chocolate factory here in our area and thought it would be a wonderful treat for them to go in and pick any piece of chocolate they wanted from the freshly prepared treats in the glass case. This sounded like fun to me. After several hours of getting things here and there, we finally made our walk down the street lined with shops to the factory. As we entered the store, I could hear one of them say this is not someplace fun. I replied, "Sure it is, you can pick any piece of chocolate you want. You can have peanut-butter filled chocolate, cherries or peanuts covered in chocolate, or maybe just plain white or dark chocolate." My kids looked around a minute but were not drawn to the glass case of delicious treats but to the freezer style container in the corner with frozen treats like they carry on the local ice cream truck. We left the store with a bag of peanut M & M's for the three year old, a packet of gum for the six year old, and an ice cream cone with chocolate and nuts on it for the oldest. WHAT? Yes, items they could have picked out at the local grocery store. So much for doing something special! They were not willing to step out of their comfort zone and get something different. They wanted something they knew to be good, not willing to try something that might not be good at all. After eating my two chocolate pieces, I assure you they missed a good thing. How we are like that, we love routine. We find security in sameness. Sometimes God challenges our thinking and asks us to move to a deeper place with Him. A place that we would enjoy so much more if we would just give it a try. I challenge you this week, step up to the plate, fear in hand, and do something different in your walk with the Lord. Try getting out a worship CD and sing along. Pray in a different position or at a quiet garden spot. Purchase a new Bible Study by an author you don't know. Serve at a mission or at your local Church. Jesus led His disciples on an adventure. They never quite grew comfortable with what God, in human form, could or would do. Don't grow comfortable or stagnate in your walk with Him either. Something new and different, go ahead pick something from the glass case, I promise, you will enjoy it more than you thought you would.

Psalm 73:28 -"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works."
Jeremiah 33:3 -"Call unto me, and I will answer thee and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."