Lee’s mother stuck her head out the backdoor and said, “Dinner time. Go wash your hands and come to the kitchen.” The kitchen, adorned with linoleum floor, barely room for a table and an old gas stove, equipped with a refrigerator that today’s young people would consider a collector’s item or vintage, was filled with the appealing smell of what Lee thought would be a delicious meal. The aroma itself caused Lee’s appetite to anticipate that it would soon be satisfied beyond expectations. Lee rushed to wash his hands, barely using the hardwater soap and a rinse that had to be done in record breaking time and he took a seat the kitchen table. All of a sudden, his level of excitement plunged and the expression on his face that at first communicated that his hunger would be remedied by a well-cooked meal disappeared,
Yes, Lee’s happy demeanor dropped when his mother uncovered the old grey pot that had been around his whole lifetime. (Whole! Ha! Lee was a fourth grader!) Why the change in demeanor? Well, the main course included liver and onions and a serving of peas and potatoes. While others in the family loved liver, Lee definitely did not. Lee didn’t like it for two reasons. First, the name “liver” caused him to think of animal parts he was not interested in eating. Second, “liver,” in his mind, was one of those bouncy foods having a texture that he detested. Lee, even to this very day, will never utter a complimentary word about bouncy foods. Bouncy foods are for other people. That’s Lee’s viewpoint.
Back to the kitchen, so small that if the whole family were to walk around the table they would have to walk in single file. By small, you could touch the stove with one hand and almost reach the ice box that was only a few feet away, close to the backdoor. Lee’s detesting resulted in protesting and pouting about having to eat liver. He ate everything on his plate except the liver. Father, putting down his newspaper that was hiding his face, asserts his authority as the head of the house. You see, Lee was about to leave the table, and his father tells him in an authoritative tone, “Sit down! You are not getting up until you eat your liver.” Lee sat unmoved by the uncompromising mandate made by his dad. He sat, and sat, and sat. The other children finished eating and were back to playing or watching TV, but Lee sat, and sat, and sat. The longer he sat, the colder the meat became. After what seems like an eternity, but probably was only, yes only, two hours, Lee was faced with a choice. Eat it and miss out on being able to do anything during what was considered playtime and missing out one’s, in his opinion, “life.” Lee could have reconsidered his ways, and he would have been able to enjoy “life” as a child. It was his choice. He was like a person at an older age that had to choose between rehabilitation or renewing old habits that were damaging to one’s body or one’s relationships, and how one was looked at in the eyes of God. A choice had to be made.
Lee decided on eating the bouncy liver. Although he had to swallow his pride, as fast as he swallowed the liver without chewing it, Lee had to do away with his preference of foods, and his obedience to the father paved the way for him to have time to play. Soon Lee forgot the bouncy food, except hoping it would not be on the dinner menu plan for a long, long time.
Like Lee, life decisions, life-changing choices, have to be made by believers all the time. Do we do what our heavenly Father commands us to do, or do we remain stubborn, obstinate, and consequently rob ourselves of blessings and “life more abundantly?” Do we choose to rehabilitate or relapse or renew sinful behaviors?
My advice: Be like Lee! Submit to the Lord and go on and enjoy the things of life you have been missing. As a bonus, I suggest you revisit Joshua’s familiar words below, apply them to you personally, and prayerfully you will be moved to make the right choices in your days ahead. Have a great Saturday! Show up at church tomorrow! Don’t be concerned about the menu. It is manna from on high! Be blessed!
“But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Matthew 21:22 The Amplified Bible)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King