As a child, I refused to eat celery. I told my parents that I didn’t like celery and couldn’t stand the taste! However, the strange thing is that I don’t remember ever tasting it. I suppose that at one point I must’ve heard one of my friends say, “I hate celery! Celery’s disgusting!” and somehow, I began to repeat the same thing to myself until I believed it.
It wasn’t until I was an adult that my repulsion for celery ended. I bought a juicer and soon I grew tired of apple and carrot juice. As I searched the internet for options, I kept reading about how well celery complimented apple juice. So, I decided there was no harm in trying it.
I juiced apples and celery together, plugged my nose expecting the worse, and took a sip. I couldn’t believe my tastebuds! It tasted great and I drank the whole thing, nose unplugged. After a few days, I decided to try celery by itself, with some peanut butter. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. My repulsion for celery ended the day I tasted it for the first time.
There are many who approach Bible reading and prayer the same way that I did celery. They tell themselves that they don’t like it until they’re convinced that it’s true. Instead, the Bible tells us to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8, NKJV). This is an invitation to leave our inhibitions behind and give God a try. But how do we acquire a good taste for something that we’ve not enjoyed or tolerated before? We do it one bite at a time.
I once heard of a man who wanted to develop the habit of prayer. To remind himself to pray, he began to leave his shoes under his bed every night. That way, as he knelt to retrieve his shoes in the morning, he’d remember to pray. Whether this is a true story or not doesn’t matter. The point is that habits take time to form.
Some give up reading the Bible too quickly, because they read it and get nothing out of it. Jesus’ own disciples had a hard time with the Scriptures until He intervened.
The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus “opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45, NKJV). Perhaps we need Jesus to open our understanding, too, and help us develop a taste for spiritual things. Maybe this could be our prayer each day before we open the Bible.
As we approach the end of this year, may we be proactive in our resolutions. Instead of waiting until next year, let us begin to make time for prayer and Bible reading now. So, come next year, we can join the Psalmist in saying, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103, NKJV).
Perhaps the things that we never thought we’d enjoy, turn out to be better than we thought. Who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised after you taste the Bible for the first time.
