We just brought home two more boxes of Christmas oranges
yesterday. Two more, because we have already gone through one! They are a great
treat. Growing up we called them Japanese Oranges …these oranges would find
themselves in the little gift bags that we received on Christmas Eve at church,
along with a candy cane and some foil covered chocolate balls. This little treat
served to heighten the anticipation that gifts were waiting at home under the
tree.
In later years I learned that just as we anticipate the
Christmas Orange, so the people in Japan anticipate the crisp red apples from
our orchards. Indeed, another picture of the grass seeming to be “greener” or
“oranger” or “redder” on the other side of the fence!
I am reminded that an age-old issue for all of us is finding
satisfaction in the square inch in which we live. We seem to think that what we
don’t have could possibly make us
happier than we currently are!
Whether it’s oranges, shiny shoes, or a new car, we love
to anticipate something better and then Jesus comes along and says that indeed
He does make it better. Everyday, He desires to be our Bread of Life…
John 6:35
Jesus
said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
He desires to satisfy us. The Christmas oranges, the gifts
under the tree, the cookies and the turkey…these are all great things, but the
oranges rot, the sweater you “just had to have” pills after you wear it three
times, the tree dries out, the cookies go stale and the turkey, well you can
only eat so much turkey and then the gig is up!
Jesus on the other hand offers us a gift that never ceases
to meet our need.
Deep and long and wide and high…His love fills up every
corner of our hearts and satisfies our every soul-felt desire.
Ephesians
3:17-19
…so
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to
know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God.
