Yesterday, we began looking at an article written by Monica Bass, the senior editor for Striving Together Publications, the publishing arm of Lancaster Baptist Church and West Coast Baptist College.
When I was a kid, I must have been a fast eater. I remember being told by my parents to “slow down” or asked, “Did you even taste that?” It seems we have the same problem when it comes to savoring the Word of God. We rapidly devour sermons, devotionals, or even good Christian songs without savoring the message or the One that the message is about.
So, how can we learn to really savor the things of the Lord? Monica’s article continues with what my parents said to me —
- Slow down.
Savoring never happens in a hurry. You don’t savor a meal while rushing out the door. You don’t savor a conversation when your mind is somewhere else. And you don’t savor truth when you move on from it the moment the service ends or the devotional closes.
Psalm 46:10 holds the key: “Be still, and know that I am God….” There is something about the knowledge of God that can only come through stillness. There must be times when we pause if we are to savor the goodness of God and knowledge of His presence in our lives.
Speaking from experience, it’s easy to blame the pace of our lives or the demands of our days for our lack of stillness. But this is a personal decision. We must choose to carve out moments to be still in His presence.
- Meditate on it.
Biblical meditation is not emptying the mind to see what appears; it is focusing the mind on the truth of what is. It is deliberate thinking on God—His ways, His Word, and His goodness.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. (Psalm 63:5–6)
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. (Psalm 143:5)
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. (Psalm 119:97)
Biblical meditation is the quiet return of your thoughts to a truth God has given you. It’s replaying a verse in your mind while washing dishes. It’s revisiting a sermon thought while driving. It’s taking time while you read the Bible to ask, “What does this show me about God? About myself? About how I should respond today?”
Savoring involves reflection, contemplation—meditation.
- Share truth with others.
The natural outflow of meditation is conversation: “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalm 77:12).
Like a good meal that is best enjoyed in company, our savoring of the things of God grows deeper when we talk about it with others. When we share what God is teaching us, that truth settles more firmly into our own lives.
God designed us to strengthen one another this way—to speak of His works, His character, and His truth together. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
The things of God are meant to linger long after the moment they are first received. His goodness and the greatness of His Word are too rich to only taste once.
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I hope this article will help to remind us that God and His Word are meant to be savored. Take your time, dearly beloved. Enjoy the time spent with the Lord and in your Bible. Psalms 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
https://ministry127.com/hold-that-taste
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