The sour taste? Or the sweet?!
I am a great lover of pickles! Perhaps it started when my mom gave me a big, sour pickle while teething as a baby. So goes the family saga...🥒
Many of us have had the 'sour' so much that we develop a taste for it. Cultural stuff comes into our lives just like that--the pickles we enjoy without knowing why or if it is right to do so. Our culture passes on the 'pursuit of happiness' and the 'all about me' attitude to life, the desire for comfort as well.
"You deserve the best!" is shouted by the adverts, ad nauseum.
"How do I benefit?" we soon ask of everything and everyone in our lives. That taste guides our decision-making ever after.
But when we try to mix faith with that inner 'pickle' desire, we have a problem; it becomes perversion, a second-best that dishonors God.
The sweet savor of faith is all about Someone else, Jesus Christ, and what HE has done. True, He has done it for us. We are taught, as believers, to follow Him. But be honest, are we not expecting rewards for serving or even just for being thankful?
Have we made faith in God "all about us?" Are we seeking God IN ORDER TO get more benefits, a healing from disease, a release from a burden we carry, greater happiness, or the equivalents?
Think about why you are personally seeking God. Here, only the Holy Spirit can help. When I did that, I found a dark truth...
So often, we seek God when we want something.
"That is normal," we say. "The Bible tells us to do so, for all our needs."
Of course! But ONLY seeking Him when I want something is not. Neither is expecting ONLY good from Him...
We are truly like little children! Sneaky ones! All parents of young children know this 'getting-own-way' kid behavior. The smiles turned on us when their desires are within reach -- through our wallets or permission, that is. Then later in life, we learn to develop our 'buttering up' skills for others who can benefit us. 'Sour pickle' pathos perfected! Our comfort is complete!
Do we treat our loving God that way too, seeking Him out when we need something, feel down, or face a crisis? Have you caught yourself doing that too?
Our Lord is worthy of more--our whole love and adoration for WHO He is! The love of God carries a unique sweetness, a joy of heart that no other flavor can compare to, even honey, even His words are described as:
...more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
Psalm 19:10Are our motives pure? Do we worship Him for who HE is? He paid such a price for our freedom; am I willing to do the same in His Name?
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;...
Job 13:15Now THAT is the opposite of the 'me, myself, and I' lifestyles we enjoy. Let's look to Job for that kind of backbone.
Even when I do not have the desired 'pickles' of life, Jesus Christ is worthy. Our lives are in Him, if we have tasted the sweet fruit of His salvation. That sweet savor replaces all other desires...
Ask the Father to show you just how worthy He is! Then, you can love Him more, and self a little less! AND keep out of the pickle jars of life.
ChatGPT got the image just right! 😉
About author
A retired teacher of English as a foreign language, she loves classical music, hiking in nature, reading, and writing.
She is married to her marvelous husband, Adam, and loves their two children, with two rambunctious toddler grandchildren completing the joy of family.
God has given her countless opportunities to see His goodness through the years together with the challenges life has brought. Those lessons are the subject of her writing.Show less