Look at your food and hold your spoon and fork.

My husband and I were eating at our dining table with our eldest son yesterday when I noticed that my son's attention was no longer on his food and that he was playing by touching the other things on the table.  This is actually one of our challenges with our eldest son.  He gets easily distracted at table when he is eating.  He starts to look around and touch other things and then he tends to stop chewing or putting food in his mouth.  Thus, finishing his meal takes a loooong time.  (Believe me, it can sometimes last an hour or more.) We have to remind him a lot of times that he is still eating and that he needs to focus on his goal which is to eat his food. 

 

So, when I saw him yesterday morning playing at the table with his fingers and "forgetting" about his food again, I reminded our son to look at his food and to just keep on holding his spoon and fork until he is finished.  I explained to him that looking at his food would keep on reminding him that he is still eating and that by keeping his hands on his eating utensils, he will be less tempted to play with his fingers and hold the other things on the table.  That means he can focus on his goal of eating his food and finishing it faster. 

 

Yanthy's plate and spoon and fork.

 

As soon as I said these words to my child, I suddenly had this insight.  I realized that our Christian life is in a way similar to eating food at table.  We need to keep our eyes on God just like what I told my son that he needs to keep his eyes on his food so that he would not forget what he is doing.  Keeping our eyes on God helps us to focus on our goal which is to be with God at the end of our lives here on earth.  Keeping our eyes on him helps us to remember that the things that we are doing should bring us closer to our goal, heaven. 

 

Photo source here.

And in the same way that I asked our eldest son to keep on holding his spoon and fork while eating so that he would not be tempted to hold other things that distract him from finishing his food, we need to keep on holding on to the things that help us move closer to God and to heaven.  These are the sacraments, regular gatherings or prayer meetings with our fellow Christians, our personal times of prayer, studying the Bible, our service to the Church, etc.  When we keep our hands full with these things, we will be less tempted to touch or hold other things that can distract us from fulfilling our purpose or from following God.

 

How about you? Are you looking at your food now and holding your spoon and fork?  Or have you lost your focus and forgot why you are at the table?  Are you distracted by the other things that you see?  Time to refocus and enjoy your meal.

 

"with my eyes fixed on the goal I push on to secure the prize of God's heavenward call in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14

 

But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62