“Who ate all the chocolates? You ate all the chocolates and left the boxes in the freezer! Your
hearts are all empty! Put the boxes in the trash.” I could not help but laugh listening to my
husband as he discovered our children’s empty Valentine’s boxes last week.
I think it has happened to all of us at some time. We get our eyes fixed on that “oh so good
treat” in the kitchen. We go to reach for it. As soon as we get our hands on it we realize it is an
empty box. If you’re like me, you then battle against feelings of frustration and anger, and desire
to identify the culprit who led to your disappointment. You want answers. “Why didn’t you just
throw away the box?”
If you have been so fortunate as to have never experienced that, then perhaps you can relate to
the pen with no ink. I remember one Sunday morning sitting in church and wanting to take notes
on the teaching I was hearing. I took one of the gray pens in the chair pockets in front of me
and attempted to write only to find it empty. I tried the pen in the next chair, it too was empty. I
tried three more pens, from three other chairs and they too would not write. At this point I was
amazed. “What good is a pen if it is not filled with ink? Who would put it back in the chair?” At
the end of the service I placed all the pens in the trash.
I don’t want to be like the empty box of chocolates or the pen without ink. I know I can package
myself up beautifully on the outside but it is all in vain if upon a deeper inspection I am found to
be just an “empty heart” not capable of satisfying the desires of those who reach out to me. It is
so good to know that on the days when my “packaging” may not be that appealing or when I feel
like everything I have to offer has been handed out I still have God’s Holy Spirit living inside of
me. I am not able to satisfy all the hands that reach out to me but He is and that is what matters
most.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? -1 Corinthians 3:16
