I dreamed that I was invited to a luxurious banquet. Everything around me shone with glory and splendor. Crystal goblets were filled with the best wines and all my favorite dishes were present. Then there was the command, “Eat and be happy.”
So I ate and was happy. By the time the desserts were served, I could hardly take another bite, and then …
… I heard the alarm clock. 6:00 am.
I awoke, and with a frustrated sigh, hit the alarm clock and crawled out of bed. My stomach was growling and I moved my weary body to the kitchen. No exquisite dishes, no wines, no desserts. Thankfully, I still had a package of oatmeal.
The food in our dreams tastes good, and often even looks better than real food, but there’s one obvious problem: it doesn’t give us any strength.
Humans hunger for more than food. The deepest hunger in the human life is the hunger for love. Deep within each heart is an empty spot that needs to be filled, and we are all in a desperate search to fill it. But just like the wonderful food in our dreams doesn’t fill our tummies, many things in this world look good but don’t satisfy.
Our bodies need physical food to keep them going. But our spirits can only be satisfied with the Great Spirit of love who made us. If we confuse things and chase after the wrong ones, we will wake up hungry when the alarm clock of life goes off and we enter eternity. We’ll realize too late that we didn’t actually eat anything that was of true value.
God gives our life purpose. He is the goal, the plan, and the vision. Everything comes from Him and everything should be centered on Him. Jesus came to earth to tell us that we are not just a random accident in some unknown universe, but that we were made in the image of our heavenly Father with a plan and for a purpose. There is hope, and we are not just a speck of nothingness in an ocean of dark forgetfulness.