Heavenly Ham

In the Old Testament God sent manna from heaven.  In the New Testament God sent Jesus who is the Bread of Life. And today in an everyday, not-so-profound way, God sent me ham.

Lately Reid and I have been trying to stick to "real food" eating.  While it's great for the waist line and my overall energy, it's not so great on the budget.  I plan three dinners per week, and we eat left overs for lunches.  This week, I planned a crockpot meal, but forgot I loaned it out to someone. Oops. So last night we ate the "organic" pizza saved in the freezer for emergency situations such as these.  It's only an 8-inch pie, which means after the two of us get our fill, there are zero leftovers. 

So this morning, besides a little salad, there was nothing for me or Reid to take to work.  Reid can go out for lunch, but I work solo on Thursdays.  I need to be available for phone calls and such.  So I was planning just to fork out the extra dough to get someone to deliver to the office.

At 11:15 am, just when my stomach was beginning to growl, some Honeybaked Ham employees walked through my door.  They were advertising their catering and delivery services and brought with them two free meals for our office to try.  In the many days, I've been working there, today was the first time I didn't have a lunch.  And in the many days I've been working there, today was the first time anyone has ever delivered free food.

I know this was a gift from God. The thing is, today I've felt particularly undeserving.  Upon first waking up, I prompting kicked my husband in the shin because he was scratching his legs (poor guy has dry winter skin) and shaking the bed. I begrudgingly got up to make breakfast for him before work, and I sped through my Bible reading more to check it off my list than to really soak it in. All of this failure before 8:00 am must surely disqualify me from receiving any blessing from God.

As I was thinking about these things after the Honey-baked Ham folks left, I realized it's true that I don't deserve such a blessing.  But God isn't manipulated by what we do or don't do.  This morning could have gone differently. I could have lovingly asked my husband if he needed any lotion, enthusiastically cooked his breakfast, and prayerfully read and absorbed the Bible, but those would not have forced God to do anything for me.   This lunch is a reminder of His grace, which is by definition undeserved.  But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).  By His grace He has sent Christ to pay the debt for my sin and to secure the hope of a new and transformed life. And He did it when I could've cared less.

So while I know the white bread roll and the sour cream & onion chips are not exactly the epitome of real food, I enjoyed every bit of my free lunch and the reminder of grace it has been for me today.  After all, who can turn down heaven-sent ham?

Oh, and the cookie was delicious too.