Psalm 119:103: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Some people love salty snacks; others crave “to die for” sweets. Some hate sweets altogether and prefer only organic, natural fruits and vegetables. Every one of us was created with unique taste buds and preferences for certain foods and combinations of foods. Some people love to eat while others find it an annoyance that they have to put up with in order to stay alive.
Who does not enjoy watching a child try a new food for the very first time? The faces they make, the pleasure they get when they find their “favorite food,” and the tricks of the trade they learn (usually from older siblings) to get out of eating certain foods are all quite entertaining. Our last child is our best eater, willing to try most anything. However, he went through a phase around one year of age where he would just look at a particular food and gag. It was quite a sight, but thankfully did not last very long. Then he went through another phase where he would eat veggies mixed together and mashed but not if served whole, separately.
I love that God created our bodies with the ability to experience pleasure in our food. That can be a curse and a blessing, but today I am choosing to focus on it being a blessing. Life would be so boring if everything was tasteless. God could have decided we, as humans, were not worth the trouble to create taste buds. If there was no variety, think of the effortlessness of shopping.
However, God loves us much more than that. Like He did with nature, God created a unique blends of flavors and textures to enrich and enhance our eating experience. The crunch of an apple; the firm-on-the-outside, juicy middle of a grape or cherry tomato; the rich bold flavor of steak cooked medium well on the grill combined with the flavor of onions; or the rich cream swirling in a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Today, while you eat, take time to really savor each bite, remembering that God created this food for your pleasure. Not to take the place of God in your life but for you to thoroughly enjoy. If you are adventurous, maybe you will try something new. If you like the familiar, maybe you will dig out a family favorite recipe that you have not made for years. Whatever the occasion, do not forget to thank the One who created the various blends of what is going into your mouth instead of focusing only on the pleasure of the food itself.