Real food

It was her intense concentration on the menu that caught my attention. I’d never seen a small child look so intently at the choices. She looked, and looked some more. She turned the menu over. She turned it upside down. Then she sighed – you know, that exasperated, “had enough of this” kind of sigh.

“What is it, Molly?” her dad asked. “Have you decided what you’re having?” His questions were greeted with another sigh and silence.

“Honey, look here. They have hamburgers, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, and look, nachos!”

Molly closed the menu. “Don’t they have any REAL food here, Dad?”

“Like I said, honey, they have real hamburgers, real chicken fingers, real grilled cheese sandwiches and REAL nachos! Which will it be?”

“Da-a-ad! I’m looking for that ‘real food’ Pastor Pat told us about this morning. Remember? She said it’s the best food ever, ‘cause it’s forever food! Don’t you remember? It was on the Jesus table. It’s GOT to be here somewhere.” She opened the menu again, searching with her finger.

Dad smiled, you got it, that “oh my, what do I say to that” kind of smile. “Well, honey, they only have that kind of food at church. Here we eat regular food.”

“Oh no, Dad. Jesus isn’t just at church. He’s everywhere, even here in this restaurant. So where’s the REAL food, the Jesus food?”

Dad reached across the table and closed Molly’s menu. Looking her straight in the eye, love shining in his face, he told her, “Sweetheart, it’s inside you. When we share that ‘real food’, the ‘Jesus meal’ at His table, it sticks with us all week. You’re right, it’s the most real food there is, and it lasts forever. We go back each week to church and share it with Jesus and it just gets better and better, and we get stronger and stronger.”

He paused, amazed that she was still gazing back at him, not missing one word. Then, all of a sudden, a big bright smile just blossomed on her face.

“I get it! We just get more and more filled up with Jesus, and we grow stronger and stronger inside, and that makes God REAL happy!”

“OK, Dad. I’ll have a cheese sandwich. We’re going to church next week, right? Pastor Pat said she misses me when I’m not there, and I think Jesus does, too. Right, Dad?”

Dad smiled. “Right, honey. You are so right.”

Sometimes we get so fed-up in the world, stuffed full with the food of just living day to day, that we forget about the eternal food Jesus offers. We eat at table after table. We fill our time with this and that, that and this. Over and over again. Sooner or later, we realize something’s missing. Something REAL. Something beyond all that everyday stuff.

Our menu is full, but there’s nothing on there we really need, nothing there that will truly give us the nourishment, the energy and power we need to truly live life to the fullest potential God intends us to. God created us for joyful, grace-filled living in the light and way of His son Jesus, who offered His entire self as REAL food. His body. His blood. For us. REAL food for REAL people.

So how about it?