I remember, one summer, taking a family vacation through the state of Ohio. As a child, one of best parts of road trips was finding the spot to eat for meals! The blue square food sign on the side of the road would keep us occupied for a little bit while we searched for the next restaurant to eat at. On this particular trip, a new icon appeared on the food sign that we had never seen before, Skyline Chili. We decided to be adventurous and try this new restaurant. After all, we all liked chili, and this looked like a fun adventure. Well...it definitely was an adventure. As we finished our eating time, I looked around and everyone still had chili left in their bowls. This tells you one of two things: either everyone was full (which was not the case) or no one liked the chili. We couldn't understand why we didn't like the chili. I mean, we had liked other chili, but this one tasted different. Come to find out, Skyline Chili uses two special ingredients in their chili: cinnamon and chocolate.
Today I want to show you a couple verses from Scripture that have to do with the taste of food:
Exodus 16:31
And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
What a marvelous miracle that God ordained to take care of His people. And better yet, He even made it to taste sweet and enjoyable!
Well, fast forward a few months and look at what Israel is eating now:
Numbers 11:7-8
And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
Very interesting. Same food, different taste. Did God start using different ingredients? Did He run out of the honey and have to use oil?
I believe a few verses before you find the answer to the mysterious taste change.
Numbers 11:4-6
And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
Re-read those bold words. Understand what Israel is saying here? They had their eyes on what was behind them, in Egypt. When their mind and their mouth wanted something different, the taste of the manna grew bland.
The taste difference was not an ingredient change or addition...it was a change of heart.
They began to hang around the wrong crowd and soon, what was once delicious, was now bland and old.
Have you ever been there? No, I don't mean eating manna. I mean have you ever picked up God's Word and read it, and agreed with David that His words were "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb"? Then have you ever opened up the same Bible and read it or listened to a message on Sunday, and walked away thinking to yourself, "this is bland...I am just not getting anything out of this."
What has changed? Have the ingredients of the Word changed? Or have your eyes been looking and longing for something else.
The Bible can grow stale to us when something other than Jesus occupies our minds.
It can also grow bland when the company we keep does not see the value in it.
Does the Bible taste bland to you? Take a look at where your eyes have been, or who you have allowed to be your company. Understand that what God has for you tastes far sweeter than what you are currently wishing you had. Place your eyes back on the Lord and what He has so graciously provided for you, and enjoy the taste change!
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