Growing up, there was no saying that confused me more than, “You can’t have your cake and it too.”! I mean, I LOVE cake, so, if I have it, why can’t I eat it? What is even the point of having the cake if I can’t eat it? The objective of baking a cake was so someone would eat it, not just look at it! I was always willing to oblige!

According to the Urban Dictionary, the saying means this: “Obviously once you’ve eaten your cake, you won’t have it anymore. Used for expressing the impossibility of having something both ways if those two ways conflict.” Again I repeat though, the point of having cake is to be eaten, to enjoy the fruits of your labor after going through the trouble of baking of it.  Just like the point of living is to fully live- not just exist or muddle through.

There will be times in each of our lives when we feel like not only do we not have the cake but we didn’t even get to eat a piece of it! You smell it baking, but that’s as far as you get with it. A whiff. It’s out of reach, unattainable, but the aroma teases your senses.

Or maybe you have had too much cake but haven’t really enjoyed any of it and still crave more. You are unsatisfied.

What if I told you that there was a way to have your cake and eat it too and be satisfied? What if there is so much more to life than having it one way or the other? That you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and find treasure in the most unlikely places.

Now, the saying “Stop and smell the roses,” was one I could fully get behind when I was a kid. I loved to stop and smell the roses, or look at the bugs, or watch the water in the creek as it flowed downstream, not always at convenient times for any adult I may have been with during those times, but isn’t that the point of the saying? Slow down and take the time to enjoy what’s around you. How often do we do that in our busy, hustle-bustle world? How often do you actually enjoy what you work so hard for? Or your kids that you so desperately wanted? Or your spouse? How often do you smell the roses or eat your cake?

Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV)

What is stealing your joy? Stress? An unhealthy relationship? Illness? Depression? What is preventing you from eating your cake? Fear of not having it? Jesus tells us that we have not only life, but have it more abundantly-or more full. More joy, more grace, more love, more enjoyment in the life that He died to give us. God’s love is like a well-spring that never runs dry and it continually replenishes our thirsty and weary souls. It is abundant! It is full to the brim and overflowing! So, in God’s economy, which makes little sense to us and our economy, we can have our cake and eat it too. We can have it both ways. Let’s not allow the thief to steal, kill or destroy our treasure and let’s learn to live life to the full and enjoy each moment!