What's In Your Sweetener?

There are many choices we can use when we need something sweet. We put "the pink stuff" in our coffee, a sprinkle of sweetener over our fruit and heaps of sugar in our desserts. Even though a little goes a long way.

God gave us the sweetness of natural honey and the sugar cane. They will tame our sweet tooth for a little while, and then we start craving more.

My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Proverbs 24:13-14

The Lord says that knowledge and wisdom will be even sweeter than the sweetness of the honey comb. The craving to be immersed in God's Word should be just like the fleshly desire for candy and cookies.

But what about the other stuff - the artificial sweeteners. They don't occur naturally, but are created by man to be a substitute for the sweetness of sugar. Open a little packet and you have instant access to something sweet.

We try to do this with our wisdom, too. Isn't it easier to hear someone else speak about God's Word than to put in the study time ourselves? Isn't it more convenient to listen to someone else's prayer and say, Yes Lord, than to find our own words?

This is substituting the real sweetness of God with something man has made. There is nothing sweeter in this life than intense personal fellowship with the Lord. Nothing artificial can ever take the place of His communion.

If we've been trying to find an easier way, a different way or an artificial way to find wisdom, then we're only getting the pink stuff. Let's make today the day we purge the cabinets of our heart and throw out anything that isn't the real, pure sweetness of God.

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