What Eating Peaches Reveals About Us

I remembered hearing this young boy (where?... I have no idea...the park, the store, standing line at the zoo...fill in the blank because it is not really germane to the story anyway) say something that didn't strike me as odd or sad or pathetic at first.  But eventually I realized it was all those things and more. And it was really not even his fault.  So..what did he say?

It was how he reacted toward a piece of fruit.  "Hey, this tastes just like a peach!", he exclaimed loudly as little children do in public places to the chagrin of their parents.  As I glanced over, curious at what it could be, I think I smiled, because he had just taken a bite of...a peach.  Maybe he was too young to know that a peach was what he was holding or maybe he wasn't paying attention, being distracted by a dog or a clown or a firetruck.  Who knows?  He continued to spout excitements about his discovery.  And I continued to eavesdrop. 

Eventually, as the sun rose on this horrible fruit truth, I realized now seeing fully, that the boy had never eaten a peach.  Not an an actual peach that fell off an actual peach tree.  He had only had peach-flavored ice cream or peach-flavored candy or peach jelly or peach fruit drink...flavored of course, but never the genuine article.  Difficult to fathom, at least now the kid had enjoyed a real peach.  It is a bit understandable..I mean enjoying real peaches is difficult.  It's hard work.

Think about it...First of all, you have to get them in season, then you have to pick through a pile of peaches to find some good ones, then you have to be sure to wash them off (because nothing ruins a good peach experience like insecticide), then after all that work they may not even be very good.  And man!..Peaches are messy! There is no polite way to eat a ripe peach. (Personally, I consider that a plus...but that's me) And if you don't eat them in time they go bad.  It's just so much easier to substitute with fake peach products.  They fit in so much better with our busy 21st century jet-setting lifestyles.  Just like God.

It wasn't until a few days ago I made this connection. How eating peaches is kind of like our relationship to God.  In our culture we have so much God-flavored stuff.  Christian music, Christian books, Christian dating sites, Christian movies, websites, schools...blah, blah, blah ....  How easy in our busy schedules it is to forget and actually enjoy the real thing. God Himself. 

So, as you're blasting your radio driving down I-95 singing along with some Chris Tomlin or Toby Mac, or watching Fireproof with your spouse (or VeggieTales with your kids) for the 3rd time, don't forget that God, the real God from the real heaven, who really loves you, wants to fellowship with you and show you why no God-flavored thing can ever properly substitute for the real thing.

Fox Mulder and A.W. Tozer...Kindred Spirits??

One of the most influential books in my Christian life was The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. In it, Tozer challenged me to quit faking desire for God (my words not his). "When you are full", I was admonished, "rejoice"; but when empty...admit it, fall to my knees and beg God for a spark...for a drip...for the desire to desire Him. My favorite quote in his book is this:

"O God I have tasted Thy goodness,and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more...I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee, I long to be filled with longing, I thirst to be thirsty..."

It's not hard to see how this book can change the life of any sincere believer. It changed mine. I never approached God the same way after reading it. The thing I like most about this sentiment of desiring to desire God is it's abject humility and admission of failure. I have been in the place before (as I suspect all who read this have) where I allowed my heart to harden and grew cold toward God and the things of God.  It's a lonely place.  But in His endless mercy He brought me to that place where I recognized the hardness and knew that I had no desire for God.  That recognition for me...that I did NOT desire Him, but WANTED to desire him... was paramount in it led me to pray the above prayer.  Praise Him.  Even the father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:24 confessed his unbelief even after admitting he believed and saw his son healed.  Jesus knew his heart, and He knows ours.

Now, I was not a The X-Files enthusiast; (in case you don't know or forgot, The X-Files was the sci-fi thriller that was so popular in the 90's) however, I did manage to catch a few episodes and was always drawn to the poster on Fox Mulder's wall above his desk in that dark FBI basement that was his office.  It read, "I WANT TO BELIEVE".   This is the secular version of Tozer's sentiment, I think.

Now I know the show was fiction, but that poster broke my heart every time I saw it. Because even though I know the  character was fictional, there are thousands (millions?) of people who are NOT fictional, who share that same open-ended longing for truth.  There is the desire, without any care of the object of that desire.  You could place aliens or a ham sandwich as the object of desire just as easily as God.  But for our "whatever" post-modern society...it's a start.  I wonder if God looks down on people who desire to believe in something larger than themselves, who, while not there yet, have begun the journey of pursuing, and is pleased.  I don't know the answer to that. I just wonder if maybe Tozer would have seen the desire to believe by the sincere unbeliever (Mulder) and have saw the slight beginning of a spark, a drip,...a desire to desire God.  I think it's important in our society, that we recognize the Mulders in our circles of influence and "always be prepared to give an answer...for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15 (partial).