I just got back from a road trip to East Texas! It was an opportunity to retrace some of the travels that I went on as a kid when we went back to Texas to visit my grandmother in Dallas. We purposely stopped one night in Amarillo, Texas to connect with some family and to have a great dinner at a place called The Big Tex. We met them there and sure enough, there was a giant Texan portrayed right out front. It was great to see our family, and we had an awesome dinner there. It was a huge open space with booths and tables everywhere. But in front there was a raised platform, and we were told that was the place where the challenge took place. We just stared and they told us about a contest that anyone can enter. You come up to the front, and all the other diners will watch the contestant eat at 72 oz steak! That is a 4 ½ pound steak. Now the way this works is that the person taking the challenge has to eat the steak along with sides of shrimp, salad and bread in one hour. If you can eat it all…it if free. If you don’t…you have to pay for it…which is $72 dollars. A young man from Illinois stepped up to take the challenge. We looked at him and all of just shook our heads…he’s not going to make it! But lots of people have, literally thousands! But they told us of the legendary eater who came up and in less than an hour…ate three complete meals. According to the story folks were telling, they eventually had to stop…her! Yep, she was about a 120 lb young woman. Now several folks and people working there swore that this actually happened. She must have been training to do this because they said that she didn’t take time to chew much, she just swallowed and kept on eating. I tried to imagine how that young lady did that. And I started to think about how sometimes we chew on stuff not as tasty as good old Texas cooking. We might find ourselves chewing on hurts or injustices we have experienced. Or maybe we just chew on how lonely we are or how we seem to be missing the best things in life. We might spend time chewing on good things we have lost and opportunities we have seen pass us by. In our Christian lives we might find ourselves chewing endlessly on things that ought to just be swallowed…and through faith and forgiveness we can do that. But there are times when we will just keep chewing on those morsels of pain and disappointment. The Bible tells us to get rid of that bitterness, rage, anger, words that have hurt us and all kinds of things that we remember painfully. So, what do we do? Well, we need to make sure we don’t do that to others, so we are challenged to be kind and tenderhearted and forgiving. Why should we? Well, first and foremost, God has forgiven you and me…so we ought to forgive those who we remember through their hurt. You can chew on those moments or like that
young lady at the Big Tex, swallow it and move on with life. Is it easy? Pretty sure it isn’t. But God is always is there to help you, if you will come and just ask him. And seeing him intercede in your life with your situation, just might be the best of all of this. Try it. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (32) Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ
young lady at the Big Tex, swallow it and move on with life. Is it easy? Pretty sure it isn’t. But God is always is there to help you, if you will come and just ask him. And seeing him intercede in your life with your situation, just might be the best of all of this. Try it. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. (32) Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ