Aug. 5, 2013

Psalm 19:9-10

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

On particular day, I helped with the three nearby grandkids before they woke up in the morning. I went to their house as their parents went to work. When they woke up, I needed to check my mother-in-laws blood sugar. So, we loaded up the car and went to my in-laws house for breakfast.

We had pancakes. To make it a bit more special, strawberry jam was an option along with syrup. Initially, Ellie was leery of having jam on her pancake. After Waylan tried it and professed it as “really good,” Ellie wanted jam on her plate. A sugar hound, I knew once she tried it, Ellie would decide it was pretty good. By the end of breakfast, the strawberry jam container had diminished significantly.

In Psalm 19, King David writes a song about how God’s laws, statues and commands are perfect. In fact, he even says it’s OK to fear God. While God’s decrees are firm, we are not to be afraid of them for they are sweeter than honey, even honey from a honeycomb.

Unfortunately, most people do not think of God’s decrees as something as sweet. Rather, we think of them as something challenging and difficult and too particular. It doesn’t help that Christians often cannot agree on what God’s decrees actually mean. Too many times in the last 2,000 years, Christians have spent time arguing about what we disagree about rather than demonstrating the love Jesus so much wanted us to experience.

When is God’s law sweet? When we see it as something that God deeply desires for us to recognize as helpful in our spiritual journeys. Yes, some laws are difficult and seemingly impossible to uphold. But if we explore them with the love that Jesus taught us about, then we will see the sweetness in them. Rather than focusing on what separates us or what we disagree about, would it not be refreshing to remember what we do agree upon? This would be total sweetness in God’s kingdom.

Lord God, it’s difficult to see your commands as something that really is sweet. We get turned off by your decrees rather than exploring how knowing them can be beneficial in our lives. May we remember that your decrees are always based on love and intended to always point us back to you and your kingdom. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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