HAPPY MEALS

I don't know about you guys, but when I was a little kid, there was one thing that ALWAYS got me excited: Happy Meals. Now admittedly, they're not very healthy to eat all the time, but I had one every once in a while as a growing kid, and it seemed like the best thing in the world.
But I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I never wanted the Happy Meal for the food, or the little cardboard box, or Ronald McDonald's ugly face on my cup. Oh, no. I wanted the Happy meal for one reason, and one reason only: the toy.

If you're around my age, you know what I'm talking about. As soon as you walked through the door, you booked it over to that little plastic toy display where Ronald McDonald was showing off all of his cool new stuff. It never seemed fair that Ronald should have all of those toys to himself behind his plastic toy case; he never played with them, he just stood there like an idiot, smiling at how many toys he had. And no matter what toys they were, you wanted them. They could be GI Joe or Power Rangers or little McDonald's characters, it didn't matter -- you had to have them all.

So mom and dad would order you your Happy Meal, then you'd scarf down your chicken nuggets or cheeseburger or fries or whatever, so that you could receive your reward for eating all of your food. I remember one time, I actually dropped my fries on the floor on purpose, trying to make it look like an accident, so that I could get to the toy faster.

Finally! You finished all your food in 8.2 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity because all you wanted was to get your greasy fingers on that piece of plastic. So you rip open that plastic wrapper (I always had to use my teeth) and pulled out a brand new toy, and for a moment, you are the happiest kid in the entire world...

but then... something funny happens. That GI Joe guy no longer seems like the Holy Grail of playthings that you thought he was while he was in the display case. He doesn't really do anything, or he can't move his arms, or something like that, but inevitably GI Joe, failed to live up to your expectations in one way or another.

I think that this is how we treat life a lot of times. We spend our entire lives trying to achieve a dream or career goal, and then when we get it, it fails to live up to our expectations. We think that a raise, or a new car, or a new job, or a new school will make us happy, but when we get to the bottom of it, it's just a piece of hollow plastic, and we wonder where all the time has gone. Just as the kid hardly tastes his food when he wants the toy, we rush through life so fast that we hardly enjoy it at all, and sometimes, we deliberately waste it to get to some point in the future (take the phrase “kill time” for example).

I think that this is what Solomon is talking about when he says in Ecclesiastes 2:11, "Then I looked at all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended doing it, and behold, all was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."

Solomon, the wisest person who ever lived, learned the hard way that our dreams and aspirations, while they are good and important things, will leave us empty in the end. The only thing that will fulfill us is a deep, meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. I don’t mean to sound preachy, but I have learned this lesson the hard way. I wish I could have all that wasted time back, but it serves as a lesson and a constant reminder that nothing will fulfill me except a deep, vibrant relationship with God.

CHALLENGE:
1. Slow down. Stop while you're walking to class or going to work or whatever and find something beautiful around you, praising God for his creativity.
2. Simplify. Have the wisdom and the courage to say "no" to people sometimes. Free yourself from your addiction to the praise of others by spending time in prayer, even in the midst of a crazy schedule.