“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6

I do not like stale pretzels! At the moment though, that was all we had because my wife had just eaten all the FRESH ones! But my taste buds had colluded with my stomach and sent a signal to my brain that PRETZELS were all I wanted. So the question… do I eat the stale pretzels to satisfy my desire? Or do I stifle Mr. Desire and forgo the pretzels? Decisions decisions!

It’s not like we didn’t have anything else in the house. I had just had 1 tiny little chocolate cookie an hour before, satisfying a desire for something sweet. But shortly after Mr. Sweet left the room, Mr. Salty entered! We also had a few pieces of Pizza we had brought home from dinner. But Mr. Pizza was resting quietly in the box and never made a sound. At least to ME anyway. Mr. Salty Pretzel was SCREAMING!

I like cheddar cheese with pretzels. Don’t ask me how I learned that. But I opened the Fridge, got out the shredded cheese and took a pinch, reached into the bag of pretzels and found it EMPTY! Swallowing my cheese I jokingly cried out to Katie…”YOU AT ALL THE PRETZELS?” She sheepishly grinned and confessed! But I knew there hadn’t been that many left over in the bag anyway. I found a stale bag in the cupboard.

O.K., this story seems kind of ridiculous. But it is common, because little battles like this happen within me ALL DAY LONG! I LONG ago gave up the fight to ONLY eat healthy stuff, figuring that since I KNOW Jesus and KNOW where I am going when I die, I may as well ENJOY my time here while I can. So I can and choose to eat some junk! But I realize that is a DEATH decision for SOME people out there!

NowI am not alone in this house. My bride has full access to any and everything in it. We share, sometimes unequally, because we have learned that in a good marriage, it is beneficial to give up a silly desire that can only satisfy for a short time, in order to benefit ‘The One’ we have chosen to love above all things earthly. Each other! This is a universal, God given trait among His Family.

I am not a baby. I have been a believer in Christ for well over 50 years. I KNOW babies though. New-borns in Christ who are learning to walk, talk and chew. I am acquainted with teenagers in Christ as well. Folks who have been ACTIVELY following Jesus for some years, but NOT necessarily ‘acting their age!’ We are all different and at different levels, with the SAME GOAL! To glorify God.

I DID eat a few stale pretzels, then Katie confessed that she had REALLY wanted the pizza, but chose the pretzels to save the pizza for ME. My taste-buds had been satisfied, so I left the pizza for her to take to lunch today.  It was a Win-Win, because, as the saying goes, no one of us… have it all together. But all of us together… have it all!

How is YOUR relationship with Christ and what do YOU desire? Stale or Fresh? And are you sharing?