A Can Opener for the Peaches

“We are all familiar with the man who has everything. God frequently gives men many external blessings — without giving them the spiritual taste buds to enjoy what they have. This is a sore affliction from the Lord. If we understand the point here, we metaphorically see a man without any taste buds who can afford the finest of restaurants. The finest chef in the world can only fix him gray, cold oatmeal. We may see an impotent man married to a beautiful woman. The wise would do well to guard their hearts and to refuse to envy a bed where nothing happens. The people most often envied are frequently the most miserable people on the face of the earth . . . If God does not give the power of enjoyment, then a man cannot help himself. Like Tantalus in Hades, everything he reaches for retreats from him. It is a cold fact that God does in fact give many goods to men who are not given the corresponding power to eat those goods. The good Lord gives to His people a can opener to go with the cans of peaches He gives them. But to the unbeliever, He gives no way of genuine enjoyment. This being the case, it does not matter how many cans a man might accumulate. Do we measure satisfaction by what we may stack up, but by what we are given to enjoy? What is the wealthy unbeliever going to do? Lick the picture there on the label?” (Joy at the End of the Tether, pp. 68-69).