Chocolate and a Whole Lot of Hesitation

The children gathered around to listen to our pastor. He does this every Sunday… five or so minutes of talking to the kids. But boy, does it speak to my heart. Not to mention this is all in Spanish, so the easier words and slower pace helps too.

Today, as the children sat in the isle at the podium, some clinging to their moms, others picking their nose, and still some jumping over each other trying to get a good seat, he pulled out a small box of tiny chocolate candies. “Who wants one?” You could probably hear the chiming of “me me me’s” from the street. Each child reached in and grabbed a tiny piece of chocolate. “But don’t eat it yet,” he said. They all sat, a morsel in their hands, and waited patiently for him to give them the go ahead. He then turned around, grabbed the trashcan and directed all of them to throw their chocolate away. The first child hesitated, looking into his eyes making sure it wasn’t a joke. They all hesitated to a certain extent. The excitement and joy left their eyes and they sat quietly, curious as to why our pastor would do such a thing. After a little bit, he talked about how excited they were, how it hurt a little to throw their chocolate away. He then pulled out a bag. The bag contained more chocolate, yet this time they were much bigger pieces of chocolate, individually wrapped with the “Sublime” brand on each (Sublime is a chocolate bar here that is very popular, milk chocolate with peanuts). Their faces once again lit up, more excited than the first time. Especially so, when they were told they could keep them and eat them. As he explained the reasoning behind this, tears began to streak my face. The sweetness of the gift of hope and eternity and Jesus.

The point… we are asked to give up things we want that seem good, in order to seek and serve God. I confess, I wasn’t 100% sure where the lesson was going when the trashcan came out. I too, felt a little tinge of “seriously? They have to throw their chocolate away?” But as the Sublime was given out, piece by piece, I understood. Had the children known that the Sublime was coming they wouldn’t have even hesitated to throw away the off brand tiny piece of sugar coated chocolate. What hurts? I think I rarely just hesitate. I grip things tightly, justifying my keeping of them. Control, comfort, friends, family, boyfriend, earthly praise, hot showers, a "good body", my desires… unfortunately, the list goes on.

Today I am grateful for this simple yet so difficult, gospel reminder. These are small off brand not so good candies. These are nothing in comparison to what is ahead. I get Jesus. My soul’s greatest need and greatest desire. The small things we daily give up and die to in order to love people and love God, aren’t even worth comparing to the glory to come. And an added grace? The things we give up, submit under The Lordship of Christ, we even begin to see small rewards here on earth that ultimately end in our good and God’s glory. Today, I pray for grace to not even hesitate for the sake of His glory and for the hope of life to come.