Peanut Butter And Sandwiches

Peanut Butter And Sandwiches

When my kids were little, they only ate peanut butter and sandwiches. You may be thinking that something is missing there. It’s not. They did not like jelly or jam with their peanut butter. They would eat it sedately – but never together. For some reason, however, they continued to tack on the “and” to the peanut butter end of the sandwich and that is how peanut butter sandwiches were known in our household.

We switched out of our daycare center at some point because it was not working out for my daughter, and we got a babysitter instead. Because she lived in the upstairs apartment, it was very convenient, and she would come down as we were leaving for work. A few weeks into the arrangement, I was running late and didn’t have time to make them their lunch as usual, so I asked her to do it instead.

Misunderstanding

When I got home that afternoon she told me the saga that ensued. When she asked them what they wanted for lunch they asked for “peanut butter and sandwiches.” she made them peanut butter and jelly. Tragedy! They came home “starving” and frustrated. Who on earth would desecrate a perfectly good sandwich with jelly? She tried to explain the misunderstanding – the fact that they had said “and,” but no explanation would do. it was inconceivable.

I was thinking about this just now as I ventured forth from my sick bed for the first time in more than three days today. I’d caught something flu-like that made me sicker than I had been in 20 years. I finally wanted to eat something but didn’t have the energy or imagination to come up with the right thing, so I had peanut butter and jam on a rice cake.

The Point

So what’s the point of this adorable little story? It made me think about how many times I’ve listened to only half of God’s message. How often had I listened to the first part and jumped to conclusions about the rest? Or did the first half without the second? It’s like when you hear people quoting sayings without realizing their true meaning. One bad apple… spoils the bunch. Great minds think alike…though fools seldom differ. Or, curiosity killed the cat…but satisfaction brought it back. The point is, it made me think about how much I interpret the bible as something I want to hear.

Reference Checks

EESH! Well then, how do I make sure that I’m getting the full meaning? How can I get a better understanding of my reading so that I don’t jump to conclusions?

Context

Had our babysitter had the context she never would have added jelly to the kids’ sandwiches. In the same way, I can not hope to get great biblical truths by simply finding singular verses that can be manipulated to support what I’m trying to say – I need to know the context. I have found that my understanding of the Bible improves the more context I get: footnotes, different translations, reading around the text, and looking at the chapter, section, and book as a part of the whole. Like any good interviewer, I need reference checks to understand the bigger picture fully.

My challenge today is not to fill in the blanks with my own thoughts, but to seek out God’s.

 

If you like what you read here and would like to support the message you can donate here or if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee to assist me in my efforts, you can do that here. 

Thank you for visiting! Come back soon and don’t forget to like, comment, follow, and share.