I love food. I love to eat. I just love the taste of food. But I have a problem. I do not listen to my fullness alert. My love for the taste of food outweighs my desire just to eat enough. If I am not careful, it can become an addiction, leading to being overweight and health problems. I am still overweight but I am working on getting in better physical shape through exercise, diet, and mostly self-control.
So what is the root of my problem? It is those several thousands of bumps found on my tongue. They are called taste buds. These buds are covered with microscopic hairs, so you can indeed burn the hairs off your tongue when eating something hot. These tiny hairs send messages to your brain about how something taste. That is how you know if something is sweet, sour, bitter, or salty.
The average person has 10,000 taste buds that are replaced about every two weeks. But as you get older, some of these taste buds are not replaced. An older person may only have 5,000 taste buds. That explains I will now eat cabbage, collard greens, and a whole host of things that at one time I would not touch. Their taste is not as strong.
The Bible references taste a few times. We have all said I hope they get a taste of their own medicine, which means I hope they are paid back for what they did to me.
We can read about this in 2 Samuel 16:8 when Shimei, a member of ex-King Saul’s tribe, is throwing rocks at King David. “The Lord is paying you back for all the bloodshed in Saul’s clan. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, for you are a murderer!”
David’s men wanted to slay him but David interceded and said that Shimei had the right to be upset. Perhaps he recalled a time when he prayed against his enemies.
Psalm 28:3-4
“Do not drag me away with the wicked—
with those who do evil—
those who speak friendly words to their neighbors
while planning evil in their hearts.
Give them the punishment they so richly deserve!
Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness.
Pay them back for all their evil deeds!
Give them a taste of what they have done to others.”
We would call this the taste of sweet revenge. But revenge actually does not taste sweet. It is bitter. God tells us in Deuteronomy 32:35 “I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.’”
God understands that we are not just. We judge by our emotions. Look at David’s words. Punish them. Let it equal their wickedness. Give them pay back. Let them taste their own medicine.
Notice he does not ask God to forgive them, to not hold their wickedness against them, to give them a chance to repent. But who would have done such a thing? We know that is what Jesus asked of God. The difference between David and Jesus is the lack of bitterness on the part of Jesus. That is why we are warned to get rid of all bitterness and to be sure, the poisonous root of bitterness does grow into our lives.
(Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15)
Another harsh taste can be sour. I remember when they first introduced a gumball called “Cry Babies” This gum was so sour; your eyes would literally tear up. Often we use the term “sour grapes” for unfair criticism that comes from someone who is disappointed about not getting something. “What they said about me was just sour grapes because I got the promotion and they did not.”
The Bible talks about sour grapes also.
Jeremiah 31:29-30
“The people will no longer quote this proverb:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’
All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker.”
At one time God had placed a burden on parents that would affect their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren.
Exodus 34:7 “I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
even children in the third and fourth generations.”
I have heard this referred to as generational curses. But generational curses were broken on the cross. We are responsible for our own sins. We cannot blame our family or our past on our relationship with God. If we have sour grapes in our lives, no one will pucker but ourselves.
Everything the Pharisees and Sadducees said about Jesus was sour grapes. They were losing the impact they had with the crowds. They were losing their control. They made false accusations against him because they were jealous of his popularity. They were able to change the praise afforded Jesus to a condemnation that led to his death. But Jesus did not retaliate. The Bible said that He spoke not a word.
Remember at the wedding party when they ran out of wine? Jesus took urns of water and turned it into wine. Not just any wine but a wine so good that the master of ceremonies declared it the best. It is a fact that sour grapes make horrible wine.
Salt used in the proper proportion is very satisfying to the taste. Lots of food with no salt is actually very bland. Jesus said
“Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (Luke 14:35)
But having too much salt can make food equally inedible. In Israel is a place called the Dead Sea. It is also called the salt sea. It contains within its water almost ten times more salt that the ocean. It is called the Dead Sea because nothing can live in it. The water mass is so dense that it is almost impossible to sink in it. In fact, it is easier to float than to swim in its waters. The salt cannot escape because the Dead Sea has no outlet other than evaporation. The writer of Psalm 107:34 says about God, “He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there.”
In both of these examples, not salty enough or too salty, we see a picture of uselessness. One is to be thrown away; the other is to destroy. Both are a symbol of death. But let me share some good news with you.
Hebrews 2:9 “What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.”
Jesus took the rejection and the destruction of the useless salt upon himself. He did not die but rather just got a taste of death for all of us. He did it so that we would not have to taste death for ourselves. We are not forced to eat the bland or overly salted food. We can enjoy the sweet stuff.
Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!”
There is no bitterness in our Lord. There is no sourness in our Lord. There is no saltiness in our Lord. Only a sweet taste.
Psalm 119:103
“How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey.”
God’s Word is given to us to enjoy. We find it to be a chore to read or restricting in its content. But God intended for his Word to refresh and encourage us.
1 Peter 2:1-3 “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
Have you had a taste of the Lord’s kindness? I am certain you have. The Lord’s desire is for us to grow into a full experience of our salvation. His desire is to feed us like newborns, hungry for his truths. But we must rid ourselves of evil behaviors.
There is a warning to all of this though.
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”
I have often been asked about the theology of “once saved, always saved.” While I do not believe every sin causes us to lose our salvation, it is obvious to me that you can make a conscious decision to turn away from God and in doing so reject Jesus and his sacrifice. This will assure you that there is no chance of repentance. Some of you may ask, “How do you know?” I believe it is when repentance no longer matters. If someone is worried about not making their way back then it is not too late or else they would not be worried.
If you have tasted the goodness of the word of God and yet are not surrendering to him, do so today before you leave.
