why do i still want the prize in the cereal box?

a friend recently asked a question on facebook. he wanted to know if it's ok for a grown man to still eat cereal for breakfast. he assured his friends it wasn't because he was looking for the prize at the bottom of the box anymore. it made me laugh and while i thought about my answer i had to question if i still looked for the prize. if the colorful pictures on the outside of the box still grabbed my attention like they did when i was a kid.

and i have to admit, sometimes they still do.

and somehow the cereal reminded me about life. 

there's a part of me that is totally content with what i have. a part of me that never strays from what i've been given. but there's a small part of me too, that sometimes is attracted to the glamour and the glitz. a part of me that is drawn to the not so good for me because of the lure of the prize at the end.

i wonder where that comes from. a desire to want more. that the cereal (life) by itself isn't good enough. that the prize somehow makes it better.

bigger, better, shiny, new.

more, more, more, more.

they hold such an illusion for a lot of us. as if they hold the secret to life, the path to happiness. but the prize we covet is so often disappointing. it gives us a few moments of pleasure but leaves us in the end, just wanting another prize.

and while life is so much more than a box of cereal, i'm reminded by my friend's question that God is all around us. that His teachings, His lessons can be found in every area of our lives. that the smallest detail is not overlooked. that even the smallest things matter.

and more than anything today, it reminds me that God is in those details.

and He never disappoints.

and HE is my prize.