Waning

Years ago our family had a favorite restaurant that was located in other cities, but not ours.  If we were going out of town, we would plan our route to stop by Birmingham or Montgomery to visit the Macaroni Grill in one of those towns.

When our son finished Airborne training in Fort Benning, we left after the graduation ceremony and headed to Montgomery to celebrate with a lunch at Macaroni Grill.

One day several years ago, we noticed a new building come up not a half a mile from our house.  We joked that it would be neat if it were a Macaroni Grill.  We watched the progress of the building speculating what it would be.  Once the shape of the outside could be made out, I began to look online for restaurants with that form.  And what do you think I found?  It was exactly like a Macaroni Grill I found online.

Indeed, within a few weeks the Macaroni Grill in Mobile opened for business.  While we were thrilled, we did notice the service and food was not quite the caliber of the other restaurants we had visited.  Nevertheless, we could order our favorite dishes and enjoyed quite a few family celebrations there.  In fact, it was there I chose to have my last meal the night before my tonsillectomy.

Lemon Passion Cake

Over time, the joys and pleasures of the Macaroni Grill began to wane in our eyes.  Except for that wonderful Lemon Passion Cake, the food didn't seem to be the same, the service was not as stellar and the general atmosphere seemed somehow different.  We began to choose different restaurants for family dinners.  It has been a few years since any of us had even been there now.

In life, all things wane.  Everything loses its luster, its attraction.  Something we may have longed for dearly becomes old, worn and obsolete.   Everything that is, except the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ironically, the Scriptures say that He is without "form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him," (Isaiah 53:2.)  And yet, He is the very thing that our hearts --everyone's heart-- desires.  We try desperately to fill that void with other things, but our hearts, as St. Augustine said,  ". . .are restless till they find rest in Thee."

He is such that the more we know of Him, the more we long to know.  The more we experience His love, His grace and His mercy, the more we desire to experience Him.  He is a wellspring of flowing water to our thirsty hearts, He is the Bread of Life to our hungering spirits.  He is the "all and in all."  

He will never diminish, He will never fade, He will never wane.  We will spend all eternity discovering new facets of His character, His nature, His person and His creation and we will never tire of doing so.

From the poem "Always Rejoicing" attributed simply to Pauline T. :

"The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,

A fountain ever springing;

All is mine since I am His-

How can I keep from singing?"