My son got a hamster for his 7th birthday.

His name is Hershey.

Hershey has a cage on our porch. Every night Hershey is wide awake and ready to go. I’m usually up so I let him out of his cage to play. He’s gotten used to that. Now every night he’s up on hinds-feet waiting for me at 10pm. Caged for most of the day, he gets 15 minutes a night of freedom.

There is no doubt – Hershey wants out.

Don’t we all?

We live in a world defined by pain frustration and great difficulty. We experience momentary happiness only to be crushed by sudden disappointment. No one can avoid it and Jesus promised it (one of my least favorite Bible promises by the way), “In this world you will have trouble.” John 16:33.

We want out.

The Bible says the whole of creation wants out. “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Romans 8:19-21

Creation stands even now on hinds-feet awaiting its creator to reveal the church in righteous to usher in the final age of celestial emancipation.

Creation is caged and so are we – for now…

We are Hershey.

And there is a false freedom often promised that fails to deliver daily.

Interestingly enough, my son named his hamster after one of his greatest cravings – Hershey’s chocolate. A treat he will never pass up. It is ironic how we are surrounded with cravings. A never-ending cascade of commercialism had programmed our souls to believe that when we get some “thing” we will be some “one” who is finally happy. But it’s never enough.

Deep down, what we fail to realize is more that WHAT we want to have – we long for WHERE we were made to be.

Free.

Free indeed.

Free from even the cravings of this temporary world.

Isaiah proclaimed: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.” Isaiah 55:2-3

Whatever you’re frustrated with today, whatever you crave – whether hershey chocolate or more money or a better home or new friends, I want to encourage you with this thought: On this side of heaven craving comes standard. But the craving is a sign of what God’s has for you in Christ – true freedom from all the un-satisfying cravings of right now.

Deprogram you. Seek God and His Word EVERY DAY. Prepare your souls for the door of this cage to be opened. Eagerly anticipate the Master’s coming.

And one night, Jesus will return to open the cage and let you out.

I’m on hinds-feet already.