Why do so many people eat at McDonald’s?

The food is, at best, satisfactory (with the noteworthy exceptions of the famous French fries and my personal weakness, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich). The menu largely consists of items with dubious nutritional value. (No one really buys those McSalad Shakers, do they?) Because the employees at the typical “Mickey D’s” are underpaid and undertrained, customer service is notoriously poor. And, although the company dabbles from time to time in specialty items — anyone for a McRib? — the slate of offerings remains relentlessly predictable.

So why do 46 million people visit a McDonald’s restaurant every single day?

Some of the reasons are obvious. Eating at McDonald’s (I dare not say “dining”) is relatively inexpensive. Kids like the Happy Meal toys and the colorful characters. And there’s a McDonald’s restaurant within easy driving distance no matter where you go in America, and in many places throughout the world.

But the real secret of McDonald’s success is something I already mentioned: the consistent, reliable, predictable menu. Even if it’s your first visit to a specific McDonald’s outlet, you know exactly what they serve.

You know also exactly what the food will taste like. A hamburger is a hamburger. A Big Mac is a Big Mac. The chef is not going to get inventive one day and slip some feta cheese or avocado on your Quarter Pounder. McDonald’s cuisine — if that’s the appropriate word — is what it is. It’s the same everywhere. 46 million people per day find that sameness comforting.

Since long before Dick and Mac McDonald erected their first pair of Golden Arches, God has been the author — and the epitome — of predictability. “I am the Lord; I do not change,” He told the Israelite nation (Malachi 3:6). New Testament writers called God “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17), and said of His Son, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

God is trustworthy because God never changes. He always is as He is, and He always does what He says He will do. We can always be assured that God’s promises will be kept, and that His warnings will prove true. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

Because God is faithful, He prizes that quality in those He has created. Moses was beloved by God because he “was faithful in all His house as a servant” (Hebrews 3:2, 5). Abraham was called “the friend of God” because he could be counted on to obey whatever God commanded him to do (James 2:22-23).

If we would please God, we must be constant in our relationship with Him, even as He is with us. Jesus told the Christians at Smyrna, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Even in our prayers, we are told to “ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8). He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins” only if we are faithful in confessing and repenting of them (1 John 1:8-10).

The eternal inheritance of God is not for the wishy-washy, the fair-weather, the inconsistent or undependable disciple. Christ will reward those whom He may call “good and faithful” servants (Matthew 25:21, 23). If we deny Him, He will surely deny us (Matthew 10:32-33).

“He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). We can have confidence that Christ will be faithful to us (Hebrews 10:23; 1 Peter 4:19). Will we be so predictable? Are we “McDonald’s” Christians — the same every day, everywhere — or are we more like the proverbial box of chocolates: “You never know what you’re gonna get”?