Last night Christian and I had a friend over for dinner who brought her four-year-old son. This little boy, however, is an extremely picky eater. This, I was unaware of because although we see each other frequently, when we do get together for dinner we are usually eating is favorite food-pizza.
The rule in my house is if you don't want it, you don't have to eat but you only get water until the next meal. Our friends rule is, you sit there until it's gone- this rule she was enforcing at our house. Christian and I usually let parents parent their way at our house- unless they don't parent at all and the kids become destructive or harmful.
So we watched our friend have her son sit at the table until his food was gone. But he didn't "eat it" he became a chipmunk- hiding the food in his cheeks. He held a baby carrot there for 2 hours (no joke). All this because he didn't like carrots.
As he tried to keep getting up from the table with his "store" of food, Nick would come in and say "just eat the carrot and you can go play."
As this was happening in the dining room we, adults, were sitting in the living room and the conversation turned to breaking free from the lies and bondage that Satan holds us in so tightly and how we refuse to get rid of this bondage.
About that time we realized that our four-year-old "chipmunk" was out of his seat attempting to play with Nick. Yes the carrot was still in his mouth. He was not only disobeying his mother, this was dangerous for him.
One of us (ok either Christian or our guest, not me) made the statement that this carrot situation was so much like the bondage we are being held in. If he would have just eaten the carrot, he would be free to go play with Nick, but he was so stubborn and tried to hide it from us.
God tells us just eat the stinking carrot and you will be free to "play" to do everything that I have planned for you. But we are so willful and stubborn that we hide this bondage from others and go on like everything is ok. This puts us in Spiritual danger and often physical and/or emotional danger. Even sometimes our friends will tell us to eat the carrot, I want to play with you as Nick did with his friend.
Friends we ALL have carrots in our cheeks, some more physically dangerous than others. So believe me when I say I'm not speaking TO YOU rather I am speaking ABOUT US. Most of us don't even realize we have carrots hiding in our cheeks. And if we do realize we have carrots we are too stubborn to "eat them".
I encourage you all to pray and earnestly ask God to reveal your carrots and ask Him for help to eat the carrot and be free from the chains of this world. I will do the same.
Father,
You are Amazing, the Alpha Omega, Beginning and End, You are our King, Messiah, Redeemer and Friend. Thank You for all you have done. Thank you for the gift and sacrifice of Jesus, for the chance to be with You for eternity. I pray that you search me oh God and know my heart, test me o Lord and know my anxious thoughts, Point out anything that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Ps 139:23-24). Father, help me to eat the stinkin' carrot.
Cathy
