Sip And Savour

Psalm 34:8a – Taste and see that the Lord is good. (NIV)

All of my life, it seems to me that I have been in a hurry for some reason or other. For example, I have always been the first person at the table to finish my meal. I never thought much about it until recently, when God opened my eyes to some new truths.

I was facing surgery and needed to lose some weight. But how? I had never been good at dieting.

Then, the Lord began to point out some facts that I hadn't considered.

Because of this bad habit, in my rush, I always ate more than I needed, and often, even more than I enjoyed. If it was a buffet, I wanted the best value for my dollar, which equated to "eat all you can", not just to the point of satisfaction, but sometimes, rather foolishly, even to the point of discomfort.

One day when I saw my dog gulping down his food, I wondered how he even tasted it, let alone enjoyed it.

Then, it hit me. How was I any different? What an embarrassing thought! Even worse, it was the truth.

That's when the idea came to me. If I wanted to lose weight, I had to learn to eat and drink more slowly, in order to taste and enjoy my meal. In that way, I would eat less. When I began to chew my food slowly and sip my drinks instead of gulping them down, I actually began to taste the different flavours, and everything began to change.

No, this is not an ad for a diet. It's about a revelation. God had much more to teach me.

One morning, when I was rushing through my Bible reading because I had a long list of things to do, the Holy Spirit stopped me in my tracks, so to speak. What are you getting out of this?

In truth, I was literally "gulping down the gospel". How could I expect to get any spiritual insight or strength from what I read when I never took time to "chew" the words and allow them to digest? In my haste, I was going for quantity, not quality, just as with my eating habits.

Today, I am listening and putting into practice what the Lord taught me that day, both in my spiritual and physical life: to take time to savour each bite of food that the Lord so generously provides, and to savour the Word of God and all of my blessings so that I may be ready at all times to glorify Him.

I hope that these words have given my readers food for thought.

Let me leave you with this question to consider: Are you getting the most nourishment possible from the food that God supplies in His Word? May I suggest that you take the time to chew every bite thoroughly? In short, savour every morsel, and be strengthened with might in the inner man.

Prayer: Lord, we are so thankful for Your loving patience. Help us to consciously savour all of Your goodness, so that we may be equipped to carry out Your will in our lives. Amen.