Waiter: "What would you like with your sandwich? We have salad or fries."
Me: (thinking to myself) "Why am I having to choose from two of the most different foods in the entire world as a side? Is there no middle ground?"
Waiter: *waiting*
Me: "I'll have the fries."
I think we've all faced this situation before. The waiter asks you what you want for a side, and you can pick one of two options: The healthy option or the unhealthy option. Rarely is there ever a middle ground. One option, the healthy one, will be better for you in the long run. It's full of veggies, vitamins and freshness that ultimately, will be better for you. It's the option that you'll feel better with after you leave the restaurant and count as a win for the day as far as trying to eat healthier. The other option, the unhealthy one aka: fries, won't be better for you in the long run, but it's also the option that will satisfy what you want at the moment. The fries are the option you pick immediately because you know they'll taste the best, even if it'll cost you some health points at the end of the day. In the moment, it's easy to see the fries as the most satisfying option, but then later, it hits you. All that grease. All that fried-ness. All that artery clogging joy.
We're all faced with these kinds of decisions ever day, decisions that can either give us immediate satisfaction or decisions that require patience. We have to make choices that can either give us joy in the moment or choices that we have to wait and be patient for. Usually, it's the choices that require patience that are the tougher option, and it's also those choices that, usually, lead to the better result, like salad compared to fries.
I read a story about this today, kind of. It was a story in Genesis of two young guys, one named Esau, and the other one named Jacob. They're twins, but Esau is the older of the two, so accordingly, he received the birthright of being the first born male. One day, Esau came home from work and was hungry, and he saw Jacob cooking some stew, so he asked for some. Jacob, being sly, said he would give Esau some soup if he would sale him his birthright right then. Esau, being hungry, and maybe slightly ignorant, obliged to Jacob's request and swore his birthright over to Jacob. Esau got his soup and Jacob got the birthright. Esau sold a lifetime promise for a moment's satisfaction without a second thought.
Now, any normal person, or me on any day of the week, would look at this situation and say that Esau made a terrible move trading some Campbell's Cream of Mushroom for a lifetime of right of possession and privilege. It's easy to say he made a stupid decision and didn't think through what exactly he was doing; however, how often do we do the same thing whenever we're faced with temptation? We trade a moment of immediate satisfaction for a lifetime of promise. We want the soup, not the birthright because that's what's in front of us. In our short sightedness, we want what will satisfy us immediately, not what's best for us in the long run.
It's easy to get lost in short-sightedness in our decision making process, whether it's order a side order to go with a sandwich, or in the face of temptation when it comes to choosing to sin or not to sin. We too easily associate the positives with what we ultimately know is going to be a negative situation, rather than the negatives. If we want to help our decision making process, adjust your sights, look long-term and weigh both the positives and the negatives; don't just focus on the instant gratification. Look at the ultimate, lifelong promises at hand, and don't sacrifice those for something that will only temporarily satisfy your desires. A lifetime promise is greater than a moment's pleasure.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: If opening a restaurant, include something other than just salad or fries on the menu. Add a middle option too. Like apple sauce.