The morning ritual usually starts at 5 AM by them walking and running around the bedroom, up and off the bed. Obviously, they think I have forgotten them and they will surely starve. When I roll out of bed, they race down the stairs to the kitchen, impatiently waiting for me to fill each of their bowls with the morning's culinary delight. In a matter of moments, as fast as I can open a can, they each have their own bowls filled with equal amounts of "Seaside Surprise," or whatever the chef takes out of the cupboard.
Once filled, I place each bowl on the floor to calm their meowing voices expressing great anticipation. I make a pot of coffee for the wife and lean back against the counter and quietly watch and wait until it is time for me to take off my chef hat and put on my busboy then dishwasher hat.
While I stand and wait to perform my next duty for the royal three, I notice how different each of them are. Skeeter is always the last to finish eating. He takes a couple bites, sits back, looks around as if pondering how the world came to be, then takes a few more bites. Buddy is the one who has barely made it through the night as if one more minute of waiting would surely have meant inevitable death. He is also the one who meows the entire time I am preparing the feast as if I am not moving fast enough. As I place his dish on the floor, he is on it. All you see is a blur of chewing and swallowing. He could only be happier if he could pick up his dish and pour it all into his mouth at once. He licks the bowl enough to potentially remove all the color and designs. He then races to his brother's location and waits to pounce on any leftovers that might be waiting for him. Toby finishes second but is never in such a hurry as Buddy. He strolls over to Buddy's dish to see if there might be any leftovers for him. As soon as he takes one step in another direction, Buddy pounces on Toby's dish.
Here is what I see. They all have been given what they need. Some days one may get a little more than the other but when it is all said and done, I imagine they have all received equally. In Buddy's hurry to see what the other guys have, he usually leaves some of his own food on his dish. Toby may or may not get a little extra from the other guys' left overs but he seems pretty satisfied with what he had. Skeeters seems totally content. He rests beside his dish, scans the room for anything else that may be interesting and wanders into the other room to relax.
From start to finish, Buddy is the impatient one. He is the one hollering for me to hurry and get him what he wants. Once he gets it, he devours it then races to see what everyone else has as if what he got was not fair or not enough. But in doing so, he most always leaves a little something on his plate. He never seems to be content with what he has. He always seems to be looking for more or for what the other guy has when what he has been given is just as good as everyone else has.
This morning, it struck me. Isn't that the oldest untruth in all of creation? Let me share.
(Genesis 2:15-17 NAS) Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying "from any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."
(Genesis 3:1-6 NAS) Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed has God said, "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?" And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die." And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from it fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her and he ate."
If we simply look at the act could we agree that the serpent introduced discontentment to Adam and Eve. Goodness sakes, they were in love, dancing about in the Garden of Eden, had no jobs, had no stress, and life must have been pretty good. They had been given an abundant life and more than they could ever want. They were content until the serpent told them they could have more. He told them what they already had was not good enough. The discontentment he introduced to them created the "need" for them to have clothes and to work and to toil. They gave up the Garden of Eden to have that one more thing. They gave up being content and happy for that one more thing. We all know the rest of the story and it seems we have never made a course correction.
It seems mankind still wants that one more thing, that thing that another has that I might miss out on. It seems we have lost the blessing of being content and we are willing to give away our lives working to have it. It may have cost some of us our spouses and families to just get that one more thing. Sometimes the price is very costly. Some of us may have even given up on God to have that one more thing.
The serpent has given us discontentment and buying into his lie has cost us so very, very much. Some of us have been given much in one way but then some of us have been given much in other ways. We all are rich in some way or another. We have all been given a plate of blessing. It may be piled differently, or smell different, or look different but we have all been given plenty.
Like Buddy, some of us may be so busy rushing to get what the other guy has that we may have even left a little on our own plate. We may be leaving what we have that is very satisfying to get something we think we might be missing out on.
The oldest lie keeps calling out to all of us that what we have is okay, but what about that other fruit, car, house, job, man, or woman? If we are not careful, we may eat of the fruit of discontentment and lose the Garden. Eating that fruit may cause us to leave a great relationship, or lose a spouse, or family in exchange for the lie, while those we share life with right now are more than we could ever ask for. For some, it may cost us a lifelong relationship with God, walking in the garden in peace, knowing all we ever need comes from Him.
Maybe, with this week having Valentine's Day in it, we should stop and see if we are leaving anything on our plate in exchange for what we are being led to believe is better. Maybe this week is a good time to really take a hard look at what we are rushing around for while giving up time with those we love. Maybe this week we should be thankful for the spouses, kids and homes we already have. Maybe we should tell those we treasure how much they really mean to us and that we never, ever want to lose them in a trade for anything else. Maybe this week we can come to realize we already live in the Garden. What could possibly be better?