I Want It All

Have you ever seen a movie or TV show where there was a person at a party standing at the buffet table and they were sneaking food and putting it in their pocket? They were hungry and had experienced hunger often and wanted to make sure that when they were hungry later they would have something to eat.

They are usually embarrassed and afraid that someone would see them. Their eyes shift around watching to see if someone is looking at them. They don’t want anyone to laugh at them or scold them for their hunger.

Sometimes someone does see them and there is usually that classic look of disdain on that persons face. There is judgment and scorn. They are immediately categorizing that person in their mind as a ‘needy’ person. Someone to be looked down upon.



This scenario came to mind to me today as I was praying. I wasn’t praying about a buffet or even someone who was hungry. I was praying about the promises of God for our lives.

I see a lot of people in this world who have come to the party, with the buffet Christ has laid out before them. They have come to the party and they know the buffet table is there and will eat a bit here and there but there is no hurry because the night is young and there is plenty of time to feast – later. There are more important things to do right now.

There are those who have come to the party and they are hungry, but don’t want to be greedy and are fearful of what others will say so they get dainty little bites, just enough to be acceptable, but not too much as to bring ridicule.

Of course there is that occasional person which I described in the beginning that is truly hungry and has experienced hunger and eats heartily and takes more for later too, but they are always looking over their shoulder to see who is watching, afraid.

How does this relate spiritually you say?

Well there are those who come to the party and think that they have all the time in the world to feast on the things of God. They are there and feel that for now that is good enough. There is always time to eat when they choose to eat. So, they laugh and party and have a good time with no urgency to eat of the things of God.

Then there are those that want to eat; they want to know a little bit. They have some hunger, but see others watching them and in an effort to not appear like a radical or Jesus freak they take timidly. They take just enough to abate the hunger and be proper, but no more.

Also in that same category are those who are very picky about what they choose at that huge buffet table. They look and they scrutinize and they examine trying to decide what will set well with them. They don’t pick things that are new to them. They don’t pick things that they were taught to never eat. They don’t take things that might affect the way they will look. They don’t pick things that are against the ‘rules’.

As for the first example, well they are truly hungry and need to eat, so they eat ravishingly while socking away more for later. But there is fear that the others will find out that they are so hungry. They see the looks and stares and then they finally stop and walk away from the table ashamed to be so needy.

As I was thinking about this I came to the realization of where I am at today and have been for the past year.

I want to walk boldly into that room, fold up the edges of the tablecloth and slinging the whole mess over my shoulder and walk out with it. In other words, I want it all and I don’t care what others say or think.

I look at that spiritual buffet table as the promises of God that Jesus died on the cross to give me. If I just come to the party with no urgency to partake of them then doesn’t that diminish the cost of them saying they weren’t worth all that much?

If I come to the party and then daintily pick and choose as to not appear a radical, doesn’t that say that I care more about what others think than the gifts Jesus has laid out before me?

And if I purview the table with critical eyes only choosing what promises that my parents chose or what promises that my friends agree are appropriate, then aren’t I saying that only some of Jesus’ gifts are worthy of me? And what if I pick and choose only because I don’t feel that I was good enough to get all I wanted.

So then, if I come to the party hungry with a long time hunger and I need to feast on His gifts, but am fearful that I’ll be stopped because I am doing wrong, doesn’t that say that I haven’t entirely bought into the belief that God is good and He has my best interest at heart?

Jesus paid a high price for an endless buffet of gifts. His journey to the cross had many stops along the way as did His resurrection. Each step was deliberate and a high price was paid, not just for my sin debt, but for my healing, emotional well being and for an entire life of peace, rest, comfort, health and prosperity.

Jesus said:

John 10:10
¹⁰The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). Amplified Bible CLICK HERE TO READ IN FULL CONTEXT

He didn’t just come for your spiritual salvation, but for you to have and enjoy your life in abundance until it overflows. Can you say that describes your life in Christ? Then come to the buffet and eat of it all until you are full.

As for me, I want every single thing that Jesus died to give me. I do not want to leave one single thing on the table. My hunger for all thing of God has come to a feverish pitch over this last year. I am hungry. I am famished and I intend to feast on the things of God until I am full.

This last year I’ve studied and researched and communed with the Father like never before. Such sweet hunger.

In my life, I don’t want Jesus’ life to have been in vain. I WANT IT ALL.

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