April 23, 2026

My Lunch Box

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

It sits on the desk or in the break room fridge—the lunch box. Throughout the morning, it serves as a tangible reminder that sustenance awaits. There’s anticipation in knowing exactly what’s inside—perhaps a favorite sandwich, a homemade soup, or leftovers from last night’s satisfying dinner. The lunch box creates a sense of expectation, a certainty that hunger will be satisfied at the appointed time.

This everyday object offers a beautiful parallel to the Christian hope. Believers carry through life a “lunch box” of sorts—the promise of coming joy, the certainty of future fulfillment. Like a worker anticipating the contents of their noon meal, Christians live with awareness that what awaits is both known and unknown, revealed yet not fully experienced.

Scripture speaks of this anticipation in various ways. Paul describes our present spiritual understanding as seeing “only a reflection as in a mirror,” with the promise that one day we will see “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Peter writes of an “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). John assures us that “what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2).

What are the “lunch box glimpses” God provides—those foretastes of the feast to come? Perhaps they come in moments of transcendent worship, when heaven seems to touch earth. Or in experiences of profound community, where genuine love creates belonging beyond explanation. Or in encounters with beauty so stirring they awaken homesickness for a place we’ve never been.

C.S. Lewis described these moments as “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

Today’s Prayer: Father, thank You for the glimpses of future glory You provide along life’s journey. Help me recognize and appreciate these “lunch box moments”. Amen.

Reflection Question: What experiences in your life have given you the strongest “lunch box glimpses” of heaven?