Craving Unlimited Portions

 Psalm 16:5  LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.

If the term "you are what you eat" was literally true, my son would be a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

He is now twelve years old, but before he was even old enough to say 'ice cream', he loved ice cream. But only chocolate. In fact, when he turned six years old, he wanted chocolate ice cream for his birthday breakfast, so he got it, of course. And every year since then it has been his special birthday tradition.

Once when Michael was four years old, he pleaded in his sweet little boy voice for some chocolate ice cream. "Pleeeaaassseeeee, mommy" (with blue eyes bulging and bottom lip poked out). I could never resist that adorable cherub face, so I agreed, and pulled the gallon of ice cream out of the freezer. I pried open the lid and realized it was nearly empty, so rather than exhaust my arm muscles trying to scoop and scoop and scoop to get that little bit of ice cream out, I told Michael to just get a spoon and eat it straight out of the gallon.

I created a monster that day.

Once he discovered that eating "out of the gallon" meant that his portion would not be limited to the few scoops I put into a bowl, life changed. Never again did he ask for ice cream without taking a shot at proposing that he eat out of the gallon. If I had a dollar for every time he asked me to eat out of the gallon for the past few years, I would be rich!

I can't help but smile every time he asks me that question now, because it has become a running joke between us. That boy loves him some chocolate ice cream, and simply never wants his portion to be limited.

One day during one of his "can-I-eat-out-of-the-gallon" requests (of which I usually answer with 'no', because nobody needs to eat that many calories every day) I thought about how great it would be if I considered God's Word in the same way that he feels about chocolate ice cream.....

With a hunger that can never be satisfied. Always longing for more. And a desire for unlimited portions.

Psalm 73:26 says "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. "

This verse refers to "portion" to describe that although we will fail, God is enough to make up for our human-ness. He is our inheritance and our heritage. And in Him, we can know we are safe and taken care of, because He determines our destiny and holds our future in His hands. God offers us us the exact portion of Him that we need to get through life - not a piece of Him, but a whole portion.When we choose to rely on His portion for our strength, we have His favor.

We never have to feel hungry or dissatisfied with life, because God is our portion. And when it comes to His Word, we can always eat out of the gallon! In fact, we can have as much we want, whenever we want it!

But...... we have to want it, hunger for it, desire for its taste in our spirit, and continually consume it into our hearts, all the while knowing that we will never be too full for more.

I have been saying a simple 10-word prayer for the past few years, which goes like this:  "Lord, help me to hunger and thirst for your Word."  I can honestly say, that over time, He has answered that prayer. In fact, just the other day as I was studying the book of James, I found myself feeling like I was reading a suspense novel, sitting on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't wait to read more! When I realized what I was doing,  I actually chuckled at myself, and paused to thank God for finally giving me a sincere love for His Book.

You see, when we learn to love His Word, we realize that God can fill all our empty spaces, broken hearts, unmet needs,  and spiritual complacency, and we truly understand that we never have to feel spiritually or emotionally hungry again.

What would happen if we developed an insatiable craving for God to be our portion every day?

What would happen if we really depended on God to be our portion during the most difficult days, when we are starving for peace, comfort and freedom from pain and adversity?

What would happen if we asked God to be our portion during the happy and care free days, causing us to pause to express gratitude for our blessings?

What if we gave Him the best portion of ourselves each day?

If we did these things, do you think our perspective on every day life, and our every day God, would change for the better?  I am sure of it.

I don't know about you, but I want to eat out of the gallon of God's Word every day. He always has just the perfect, delicious portion that our hearts hunger for, and He knows just which flavor we need.  He knows the portion that will satisfy our soul, and fill us up with peace, yet leave us longing for more.

And good news.......... it is all 100% calorie free.  Smiles.

(Little Michael, 4 years old, with his beloved birthday breakfast ice cream.)