Compulsion

Have you ever experienced a craving?  Like coffee in the morning?  Chicken soup on a cold night?  French fries when you're on a diet? Cravings like that just latch onto your mind and don't let go.  They needle at you.  Growing more and insistent until you everything you see starts looking and smelling like the thing you're craving you finally just have to cave and give in.  The object of your affection leaves you little choice.

When I was in Uganda, I had the privilege of leading a youth group meeting.  Kenna suggested that I open the discussion time by asking everyone to give their name and an answer to a silly question.  I thought that was a pretty good idea, so I did.  My question:  "What is your favorite junk food."  The topic was fresh in our minds since I had brought two suitcases of junk food with me.  (No, that's not an exaggeration.) 

I casually listened to several of the responses, and then one of my new friends said the magic word.  "Brownies."  Suddenly, after all my careful preparation, my mind was distracted.  Brownies.  Mmmmm.  Delicious. 

All through the rest of the lesson, I had had a picture of a brownie in the back of my head.  Of course, when I picture brownies they are usually accompanied by ice cream.  And peanut butter.  And whipped cream.  But that's beside the point.  I could *almost* hear the crunch of a corner piece as it gives way to the soft and chewy center.  My taste buds were in that place where actual taste is just beyond their reach but so close they can't help but water.  Are you getting the picture?

Needless to say we made brownies later that night.

And when we did, they were delectable.  The fulfillment of a craving is a beautiful thing.  After all that longing and dreaming and working and waiting and smelling...when the brownie finally made contact, time stopped for a minute.  I closed my eyes and sighed a little sigh of happiness and contentment.  You know the one.

That's the picture I get when I read: "Christ’s love compels us."

What would my day look like if I was driven, compelled, commanded by Christ's love the way I was compelled by that brownie?  


"If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God... For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all... and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:13-15