God & Chocolate: Crave the real thing for each

I wanted something sweet after dinner last night - something in the chocolate category. My available option was limited to chocolate chips but they didn’t sound right for the choco-attack I was having. For some reason, chocolate pudding sounded soooo good. Usually, I find pudding ok, but it’s not one of my favorites. Plus, our family avoids artificial flavors and colors so I don’t buy the powder in a box that you mix with milk. Too fake.

I pulled out Betty’s recipe book, knowing that Mrs. Crocker could tell me how to make chocolate pudding.

I lined up the listed ingredients on my kitchen island. I mixed, stirred, and boiled. I poured it into a pan to cool in the refrigerator.

Later, my husband and I each snuck a bowl full after the kids went to bed. I just finished my second serving after lunch today.

This pudding is so good. Cocoa, sugar, milk – ok, I admit I might have used half and half; all real ingredients. No bitter aftertaste from artificial flavors. No fear of funky chemicals messing with our brains.

As I sat at my desk, enraptured by each bite, I thought about how good it is to have the real thing. Yes, it takes a little time and effort but the real thing is so much better than the quick, easy product for which we often settle.

I want the real thing in my spiritual life as well. I don’t want to settle for a religion that comes in a quick and easy box. I don’t want the bitter aftertaste of a religion that adds a bunch of stuff to make it look like the real thing. I want the relationship God intended; not some artificial religion created by man that was never designed for human consumption. I want to put forth some time and effort, build a relationship with my Creator and Savior, and become more enraptured with Him every time I sit down to open His Word.