“My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.”
Proverbs 24:13
This year my wife discovered and introduced me to at a terrific show on the Food Network called “Good Eats” It’s a cooking show. It’s informative and instructional like other cooking shows but it is so much better because its host, Alton Brown, provides extremely interesting historical and scientific information about the process of cooking. On top of that, the show is very entertaining, fun, silly, and captivating.
But what I think is most compelling about the show is that Alton Brown really loves “Good Eats.” His passion for good food is evident in every show – and he’s not afraid to make his personal tastes and preferences known. He treats food with such enthusiasm that he almost makes me willing to eat artichokes or blue cheese - almost.
In some respects Alton’s job is easy. That’s because food really is good eats. We all have appetites and we all love food – it tastes good. Making me want to eat chocolate chip cookies is like shooting fish in a barrel.
God made food to be good. He made me like the taste of food – especially sweet food like honey. Proverbs 24:13 says “My son, eat honey for it is good.” Okay! Here’s a command that’s easy to obey. Honey is good, and I’m willing to speculate that God allows substitutions in this recipe. “My son, eat chocolate for it is good… My son, eat steak for it is good,” mmmmmmm steak. God is the one who made honey good eats. But He doesn’t stop there. God is good and His good gifts, like tasty food, are to be enjoyed, but something else needs to happen when I eat tasty food. I need to know something else when I enjoy the taste of honey on my tongue. I need to know that wisdom is to my soul, as honey is to my taste. Proverbs reinforces this truth.
“Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
That they may be ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I have taught you today, even you.
Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
To make you know the certainty of the words of truth
That you may correctly answer him who sent you?
Tasting wisdom, eating wisdom, is “good eats” for the soul. Eating good food is pleasant on my lips, but eating wisdom is pleasant deep within. Eating food is a pleasant, but not very long lasting – I consume a dish of ice cream in maybe five minutes – if I try to make it last. But wisdom, when eaten and digested can be pleasant forever. God’s councils and knowledge are excellent and they have the spiritual capacity to increase my trust in the Lord – which is eternally nourishing.
The wisdom of God is vast and comes in many forms, flavors, and dishes. The wisdom of God can be enjoyed in bite sized snacks, or dined upon in elaborate feasts. But whatever its form, or however it is prepared, the effective ingredient is always Christ. Jesus is the wisdom of God,
“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’” 1 Corinthians 1:30.
Considering Jesus Christ in all His glory is the eating of wisdom – and it is Best Eats!
Lord thank you for your goodness, your kindness and your generosity. Thank you for making honey sweet to the taste. Please help me to enjoy food as a sweet reminder that wisdom is such for my soul. And grant me a tongue that has the capacity to taste and enjoy that which is truly good. Destroy, I pray, my lively taste buds for worthless things that compete for my appetites. Change me to enjoy the wisdom of God – the glory of Christ – so much that competing desires would no longer appeal to me. Give me truly good eats to satisfy my soul in Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.
{ 0 comments… add one now }