I like donuts and have many fond memories of eating them. Some of my fondest memories include those times when my dad stopped at the convenience store after church on a Sunday to buy donuts and the big Sunday newspaper, complete with the colored comic pages. Dad got the apple fritter. I also remember a time when we were little and went on a business trip with my dad to Winnipeg, Canada. My mom and us kids took a walk and stopped at a bakery to enjoy a donut. Mine was a Bavarian cream-filled long john. And then there were those times after our bowling league in college where we just had to stop at the commercial bakery on our way home and have fresh donuts at 11 or 12 o’clock at night. There were those special occasions that called for donuts before chapel at seminary. And there were the road trips we took with our kids when, after a long night on the road, we would stop at a grocery store to buy donuts for breakfast as we approached our final destination.
Now, I like regular donuts with the hole in the middle, too. But the best donuts are filled. Given the opportunity, I will reach for the solid donut, sprinkled with sugar and filled with some ultra-sweet jelly. And if there happens to be a chocolate covered long john with Bavarian cream in the middle, that is always my first choice. Now there have been times when I thought I grabbed a jelly or cream-filled donut. After one bite I was a little disappointed, but after two or three fillingless bites, my poor stomach was heartbroken. After all, the best donuts are filled.
These donut experiences remind me of social events and conversations in our contemporary culture. People like to get together and talk about a lot of different things, and that is good. I like to join in a conversation about hunting or fishing, ranching or farming, raising kids, gardening, weather, gas prices, new technologies, or even politics. But these conversations are usually like eating plain donuts. They are good but missing something. They are missing the best part, the filling. It doesn’t take long for the conversation to become disappointing and sometimes even heart-breaking because there is nothing important filling up the middle. The best conversations, like donuts, are filled.
And what topic could be more wholesome or satisfying than Jesus?
Next time you find yourself in a conversation, do not settle for the normal conversation that has an empty hole in the middle. The best conversations are filled. Fill your conversation up and delight those around you with the best conversation available. Fill your conversations with the name of the Lord Jesus.
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17