Main Meal or Short Order
Specifically, the question of the day is are you eating the main meal or are you a short order person?
Why are fast food joints so popular? Maybe it is the convenience? They are faster than preparing your own meal. They are faster than going in and sitting down to a steak dinner too! But is it convenience or Laziness?
In the military when you go to a Dining Facility there is a main order line and a short order line. The main line of course is usually slower as it takes time to get a spoon of corn, a serving of potatoes, some gravy on that and then the choice of meat.
When I was in Iraq, on Fridays, we had steak and shrimp, so the line was longer than normal!
The Short order is usually the same stuff everyday which is Hot Dogs, Hamburgers or maybe Chicken Nuggets etc… All the server does is toss on two burgers or hot dogs and the rest is up to you when you get through the line. So, if you’re in a hurry you of course go through the short order and there you are!
I was watching a couple soldiers as they were standing in the main line waiting patiently. One was apparently convincing himself that it is worth the wait as his buddy walks around him and heads for the Short Order. He motions, “Come on man it takes too long for the Main Line.”
The other soldier shrugs his shoulders, “Its steak and shrimp man, the line is going to be long.”
The impatient battle buddy shakes his head, “I’m getting me some ground steak on a bun called a cheeseburger, see you in a while.”
I watched as the impatient one got a full plate quickly and headed into the DFAC dining area with his loaded plate of burger and fries.
I looked back and seen that the patient soldier was watching his battle buddy with investigating eyes. He still hadn’t got a steak yet as he watched his friend getting a place to sit already. “Next,” he heard as he turned to see the server waiting on him to hand his empty plate over. He smiled as he asked for steak and shrimp. The server smiled, “yes sir, steak and shrimp.”
So many things went through my mind as this unfolded before my very eyes. The first thing was the decision to eat the main meal or grab a short order meal.
Everyone has to decide if they want a “happy meal” or the "real meat" when it comes to Jesus Christ as well!
Many of us just grab a quick dose of the “happy meal” and off we go! Others wait patiently for the steak (pondering, meditation) and then it is going to take time to eat that steak, longer to digest it, and it will keep you full longer as well as it is better for you all around!
I watched the soldier get some mashed potatoes and gravy as the impatient friend received visitors from the Mongolian army. As the patient soldier finally had his plate and was looking for his battle buddy there was no seat left for him. He had to go sit somewhere else.
This also struck me as I realized that those that eat steak, eat steak together and those that eat the fast short order usually eat together! What another metaphor? Yes indeed.
It is like the word of God, Amen? Those that eat steak usually eat together (their discussion and studies go deeper) and those that want the happy meal go together to get a happy meal, (just there listening but not pondering) Amen?
Hebrews 5:11-14 (ESV) (11) About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. (12) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, (13) for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. (14) But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:11 reads: About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. You see, dullness of Hearing! This is the disease that causes you to be a happy meal Christian.
There is nothing wrong with a babe needing milk, right? If a person is still a baby when he is old enough to be a teenager then there is a problem! Amen? Why are some Christians stuck at the baby stage of development? It is because of the "dullness of hearing". So, what is the cure?
Hebrews 5:14 reads: But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Trained by constant practice means it becomes a habit, amen? You become mature and want solid food when you "practice" or exercise with habitual responses to the milk.
So, the key to maturity (and the remedy for dullness of hearing) is not jumping from milk to meat. The key is the way you drink the milk - what you do with the milk of the word.
So, ask yourself his morning. Are you a short order Christian that is still going after the convenient meal of milk, which requires absolutely no effort? Like listening to a message or reading his but not pondering over it.
Or are you the main meal Christian that savors the milk you received, and applying it to your life brings the discernment needed so you can chew on a strong piece of meat for long periods of time and dwell on the word as you chew?
I pray you dwell on the word and savor the taste of the meat from this post this morning.
For some meat, you can watch the sermon“Main Meal or Short Order”here.
Have a blessed day.a
Comments
Amen
Amen sister