Underwhelmed

Underwhelmed

Sometimes, a Texas girl just wants a chicken-fried steak.

A while back, after thinking about it for several days, my resolve to abstain from such artery-clogging food weakened. My choice was deliberate. I called a place in my neighborhood that is known for the popular menu item and ordered one for pickup.

Out of guilt, I ordered a half-sized portion. I still felt bad about it but hoped that after eating it I might have only half-sized regret, too.

Turns out I had hardly any regret at all. When I picked up my order, it smelled bewitching. I noticed that the container I was handed seemed a little light, but I didn’t think much of it. When I arrived home and opened the container to plate my long-savored entrée, however, I was sorely disappointed. The bag contained the smallest, most minuscule chicken-fried steak in all of Texas. My cookie-cutter-sized portion was an embarrassment to chicken-fried steaks everywhere—and certainly to the establishment that boasted about theirs!

How small was it? It easily fit in the palm of my hand. A slice of Spam would have dwarfed it. It in no way lived up to its promise or satisfied my craving. It was a chicken-fried impostor. I was utterly underwhelmed.

So what does a Barbie-sized portion of chicken-fried steak have to do with the gospel claim that Jesus saves? Just this: the promise is not only true as advertised, but the reality far exceeds all expectations of it.

Jesus saves. And Jesus satisfies. The first reality can be realized in a heartbeat. Salvation is an in-time event with eternal significance. It takes but a moment to place your faith in Jesus Christ’s so-great sacrifice, but a lifetime is not long enough to understand (or to enjoy!) the gracious benefits of that surrender. Jesus saves sinners like me from the sure judgment of a holy God. And Jesus satisfies saved sinners with the riches of his goodness and mercy again and again and again.

You will not be underwhelmed by him. His grace will never disappoint. Every longing awakened by his promises will be richly, deeply, wildly satisfied in him. Because the gospel story doesn’t end with the claim that Jesus saves. It begins there.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!

Psalm 34:8, ESV