A Seat for Me!

   "Children, it's time for supper," Mom called. "Please come to the table."
   "Great! I'm starved," Caleb said as he raced for a seat at the table.
   "STOP!" cried Kimberly. "You can't sit there, that's my place!"
   Turning to Mom she pleaded, "Please make Caleb sit somewhere else."
   "I was here first," Caleb exclaimed.
   "But you always sit there."
   "Do not."
   "Do so."
   "Shh, quiet please," Mom interjected. "How do you think Jesus feels when we fight over where we're going to sit at the table?"
   "Not too good," Caleb replied, head downturned.
   "It makes Him sad," Kimberly said.

Have you ever tried to beat your brother or sister, or perhaps a friend, to the most-wanted seat at the table? Or the car?

It's natural for us to be dissatisfied with what we have, because we were all born with the "I want more" disease. It makes us feel like we're never satisfied. We want to sit in the best seat. We want to live in a better house. We want nicer toys. We want to be first.

We inherited the "I want more" disease from our first parents, who became infected by it in the Garden of Eden when they sinned. It didn't start with them, however.

Open your Bible to Isaiah 14:13, 14* and you'll discover the origin of this disease. We read, "I will __________ into heaven, I will __________ my throne above the stars of God; I will _______________ on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will __________ above the heights of the clouds, I will ___________ the Most High."

Was Lucifer content with his position in heaven? The text says he wanted to sit somewhere else (God's throne). He wanted to climb higher and higher. But he already held such a high position there was no one to be ahead of except God. And it was Lucifer-turned-Satan who communicated this "I want more" disease to Eve, then to Adam, in the Garden. Sadly, this disease brought death to the entire human race.

God saw only one way to rescue us. What Lucifer had tried to do in heaven--ascending higher and higher--God would do in reverse. Jesus was already at the top, as high as you can go. He owned everything in the universe. He received the worship and adoration of all the angels.

Yet from His glorious throne in heaven which He shared with His Father, Jesus looked down through time and saw Caleb and Kimberly dying from the "I want more" disease. He saw you.

He loved you so much that he chose to rescue you rather than stay in His beautiful heavenly home. The Bible describes the steps Jesus took to save you in Philippians 2:5-8:

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider __________________ to be equal with God, but made Himself of ________________ , taking the form of a ______________ , and coming in the ___________________ . And being found in appearance as ____________ , He humbled Himself and became obedient to the ___________________ , even the death of the ____________ ."

This text reveals that the underlying motive of the "I want more" disease is to destroy God. He allowed this disease to work itself out in His life so we might see it's results and be saved from it.

Why do you think God was willing to say good-bye to His life in heaven forever (the death of the cross) in order to save you?

We're given a clue to the reason in Ephesians 2:4, 5: "But God, who is ___________ in mercy, because of His great ___________ with which He loved us, even when we were dead (from the "I want more" disease) in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."

In the next verse we read that God has even provided a place for us to sit: (verse 6) "God [has] raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

Next time you're tempted to race to the front of the line, to grab the biggest dessert, or to sit in the best seat, think of Jesus, who "was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9, and see if His love doesn't deliver you from the "I want more" disease.

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* These texts are from the New King James Version, but you may use the King James or other versions to fill in the blanks.

Published in the 1888 Message Newsletter, January-April 1999.