Jelly Donuts!

My son and I got a lot done yesterday.  When I went off to bed last night, I was sore and tired, but very content!  Together we went through everything that I had stored in the garage, tossed a lot of items we haven’t needed since we moved in and repackaged and labeled what was left over.  I am beginning to see the end in sight as the toughest part of the packing is now behind us.  Today we attack the study and then we’ll move into to the kitchen and end with all the living room electronics over the weekend.  It is very satisfying to observe all the progress we have made.

And speaking of satisfying, I was thinking earlier this morning about how much I enjoy jelly donuts!  In Ephesians 3:19 we find the Apostle Paul talking about intimately knowing Christ’s love for you… “so that you may be completely filled with God.” (God’s Word ©)  When I read this favorite scripture of mine today, I compared it to his words in I Corinthians chapter thirteen and had the thought that the personal, intimate knowledge of God’s love is the door that opens us up to receive the fullness of God’s goodness and blessings!  Then I thought, God’s love is the luscious filling in our lives… just like the sweet jelly or custard filling in a donut!

I have to admit that I got into the habit of purchasing some sweetly filled donuts quite often as I got to the end of our weekly grocery shopping trip.  Believe it or not, it started out as a matter of practicality.  You see, when I go grocery shopping with my wife I have to precisely plan out my purchases as I have limited space in which to carry the items.  Since I am pushing her in her transport chair, I cannot use a shopping cart.  So I figured out a way to hang a small shopping basket off one handle of her chair.  Then between the basket and the cloth bag that I attached to the back of her chair, I can still carry a fair amount of groceries.

The problem comes though, when I get to the far side of the store at the end of my list and still want some desert.  By that time my space is pretty much taken up.  That is when the witty idea hit me that I could still hand hold a little bag of 2 or three donuts while I traversed up the main aisle to the checkout!  So you can see that it was an idea of practicality and not driven by a sweet tooth. (At least that is what I kept telling myself!)

Well… as you know, those donuts did not help my waist line, and since I began this diet a few months ago, I have not had a one!  But that doesn’t mean that I still don’t enjoy them!  I mean… there is not much that can beat that first bite that sends the sweet filling flowing into your mouth (and usually all over your hand as it also spurts out the little hole in the back of the donut!). 

That to me, is a taste of heaven!  A donut without being stuffed with a sweet filling is just another plain old boring donut!  The filling is what makes it satisfying and unique to any other desert!  The filling is what gives the donut its zing!  And you know what?  The same could be said for the fillings of God in your life.  Without the fullness of God, you are just another ordinary person!  God’s love opens the door for your life to be filled with the unique and special qualities of our Savior.  It is the filling that gives your life the zing and pop that sets you apart from everyone else!  And when you get squeezed by the pressures of this world, His filling will squirt out onto those lucky enough to be near you!

I bet that you never thought of yourself as a big, sticky and wonderfully sweet jelly donut before!  When I walk up to that big glass cabinet in the bakery at Safeway that is loaded with row after row of donuts, my eyes are instantly drawn to the jelly and custard filled ones in the upper right hand corner of the cabinet!  That is the way I want to be seen for Christ as well!  I want the people I come in contact with to look past all the normal things of the world around them and see Jesus in me!  How about you?

Have a great week!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What SWEET FILLING am I expecting today?”