The Jealous Fork

2 Timothy 2:20-21

"In the wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for the every good work."

Reality: Satisfaction comes from successful fulfillment of purpose. Even though the wooden fork is overworked and carelessly handled, while the golden fork is reserved for the finest of guests and occasions, is it possible for the golden fork to be jealous of his wooden counterpart? Not so much jealous of its nature, that is, its woodenness, but jealous of its busyness. There is never a boring moment with the wooden for because it is always working and participating. It is always in action. One moment it's testing the tenderness of potatoes, and the next it's delivering rice to the cook's mouth. All the while the golden fork has to sit in the gilded cabinet waiting. Waiting for that special feast, and that special person to arrive. And those long stretches of waiting which can extend for weeks, months and years are utterly boring and angst-ridden. Except for the occasional polishing day-in and day-out the golden fork is starved of interaction. Eyes peer in admiringly and are awed by its golden quality, and then they move on. They go back to testing the tenderness of potatoes with the wooden fork. Time is zooming for the wooden fork, while that of the golden fork has slowed to a snail's pace. The wooden fork is acquiring all sorts of experiences by the minute, while the golden fork is accumulating dust. But the owner of the forks knows what he is doing and why.

In Focus: Although the golden fork is of better quality than the wooden fork it is jealous nonetheless. However, jealousy is often a product of social myopia and distracted thinking. If Jesus had suffered from these things then he would never have completed his ultimate mission. The key here is to understand the purpose of the golden fork which is almost completely different from that of the wooden fork. Even though I should expound, I won't because the point is very obvious. This is the irony of being special and set apart. The waiting is almost unbearable. But if one can scale that hurdle, one will find that it was all worth it.

The owner of the forks knows what he is doing and why. Why would he set aside a golden fork if he knew no special guest or feast are planned? He knows these things are coming, and what might be an eternity to the golden fork, is a few weeks to him. And though the golden fork squirms and frets it does not accelerate, delay the special event or worries the owner. There is a time for everything.