A joy-filled conversation…

A week ago I was taking my son to the orthodontist and on the way home I learned that my upcoming appointment with my dear friend (at Starbucks) was unexpectedly canceled. Not being one to let something like a canceled appointment stop me, I decided to take Aidan to Starbucks instead since we were both in the van driving by the very place! So we went through the drive-thru, got our Double Chocolate Chip Frapaccinos and parked to enjoy our drinks. While I sipped my first drink, I thanked God with a quick and heartfelt “Thank you Jesus for tasty treats!” This got me thinking. What a great time to delve into the understanding of my 13 year old. So I asked him, “Aidan, can unbelievers enjoy this drink as much as believers can?” To which he replied, “No.” I asked him to explain why that was so and he told me, “Because unbelievers don’t know that everything good we have is because of Christ. So they think that they deserve the treats because they’ve worked for them.” I thought that was a great answer especially for a 13 year old. I went on to add to that truth by saying that they missed the fact that all good things are gifts of God which has been purchased by Christ. I also talked to him about how Christians can enjoy the same things as unbelievers but more, because as Christians we don’t need the treat to fill our hearts with joy. We have Jesus to fill our hearts with joy so while we enjoy the treat our hearts are all the more drawn to worship the Gift-Giver more than the gift and as such our joy is made full… it is complete because it comes from Jesus and ends with Jesus. There are so many more reasons why I can enjoy that Starbucks more than the unbeliever. I am sure that people more godly than me could list pages full of reasons (people like John Piper could write a book on it and may have already!), and honestly we could talk even more about how we believers can do something even harder like have joy in a trial because of Jesus; but what I praise God for is that He has shown me and is showing my son that in Jesus lies all our hope for true and lasting joy, for all eternity to the praise of His glory! Now that’s something to think about and talk about.