The Donut Life

If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:15

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my favorite food/addiction metaphor and today’s passage got me thinking about donuts, so I thought I’d write about them today. It’s odd, when considering donuts, that I regard them very differently whether they’re in my future, present, or past. When someone brings donuts to work, and they’re still possibly in my future, I crave not one, but several. As I consume them in the present, I enjoy them. Once they’re in the past however, I no longer feel the same way. Once donuts are in my past, I’m filled with regret as the pleasure fades and I have to step on the scale the next morning.

If you’ve ever struggled with weight loss or eating healthy, this will make sense. If not, you’ve no doubt got your own donut. We’ve all got those things that bring us fleeting pleasure, but once they’re gone, leave us with some price to pay. The problem is that it’s not always as obvious as the donut and the scale. Often, even if we feel immediate regret, we know the easy way to find gratification once again – we simply return to the pleasurable behavior. This of course, is how addiction happens, whether it involves food, drugs, pornography, greed, status, or possessions.

In today’s life, Paul described the life that is built upon those worthless things that ultimately cannot last. He said that we can build a life on things that are eternal or we can build a life with those things which will be consumed by fire in the end. This isn’t the fire of hell, but rather something we will all face. It’s the fiery test of God that will one day expose the kind of life we’ve built.

Do we daily invest in the eternal, loving God and loving our neighbors? Or do we simply live for our appetites, chasing the next donut and its fleeting pleasure. Instant gratification feels good, until it’s come and gone, and then, we’re eventually left with something that cannot and will not hold up to the consuming gaze of God. If, however, we daily invest in the eternal, then we build a life of joy and peace that will withstand the fire and never cause us regret.