Sunday, January 31
Banana Splits!
My brother, Dave, loved
bananas. He imagined, fanta-
sized, and drooled over big
banana splits. Although he
had never seen or tasted one,
he built up an idea of what it
would be like if he could
actually eat one all by
himself. He would listen with
envy as his grade school
buddies would describe their
love for banana splits.
He pondered the “I do not
think you’d like it” routine my
parents gave every time he
asked for a banana split. And
reasoned that they thought it
was probably too big, too sweet,
and too delicious for him to
eat all on his own. (But didn’t
they know that was exactly
what he wanted?)
He promised to be good,
feed the dog, help the gardener
with the yard work, and
collect the eggs. Before long,
Dave pestered Mom and Dad
into buying him a big, sweet,
delicious banana split.
He waited with great
anticipation for what he
believed to be the eighth
wonder of the world. As Dad
carried it to the table, Dave's
eyes gleamed with excitement.
His mind danced with
pictures he had created from
his friends’ descriptions of
banana splits.
by Anne Lawrence
The excitement vanished
from his face as the dish was
set before him. He stared with
horror at the long deep dish in
which his banana lay split
open, smothered with ice
cream, and oozing with thick
sticky fruit toppings. A lone
cherry peered over the edge of
the mound of whipped cream,
threatening to topple onto his
precious banana.
“This is a banana split?”
he wailed.
Dave is now in college.
Together we laugh at his
banana-split encounter.
“After all,” Dave says,
“banana splits are kids’ stuff.
We are grown up and have
more important things on our
minds.”
But have we really changed?
Many times I've found
myself telling God how much
better off I'd be, or how I
would serve Him more com-
pletely, if only He would give
me more of the things that I
desire. In my mind I'd build
up a picture of what I'd be like
ifonly...
But God says, “Trust Me.
Those things will not satisfy
you.”
And I, in a frenzy to satisfy
my earthly appetite, plead (just
like the Israelites) for Him to
give it to me anyway.
Anne Lawrence is a sophomore at Union College, Lincoln, Neb.
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INTRO-
DUCTION
Scripture:
Exodus 16:1-36
and Numbers
11:4-34