Eat Dessert First

As a little girl, I often saw my father take a piece of pie and place it by his plate before we had eaten our meal. He sometimes took a bite out of it too!

He would get just the response he wanted from me as I questioned, ‘Why are you having pie? You have to eat your dinner first.’ His answer was always, ‘Eat dessert first. Then you know you have room for it.’

When I was young, there was never a problem fitting a little dessert into my stomach, no matter how much I had eaten.

As I have grown older, however, sometimes I must decline dessert because I have already filled myself with other food.

Isn’t that what we do with our Lord at times?

We read the news, do our jobs, look after our families—and suddenly the day is over. We have not saved room for the most delicious part: time spent in quiet prayer or reading the Bible.

Our God is the very best of life on earth and our means to life eternal, so why not enjoy God first? His sweetness fills our hungry souls.

We enjoy dessert for a moment, but soon the empty feeling returns. But God’s love and peace are a constant, never-ending source of nourishment.

Prayer: Dear Father, help us to remember that you are the only way to satisfy the gnawing hunger in our lives. Amen