When I was a child I enjoyed trick or treating. It was fun. How much sweet stuff, that is candy, I got determined the success of the night’s venture. Getting my hands on the sweet stuff-that’s what the night was all about. Now that I’m no longer a child, I still like getting my hands on the sweet stuff.
In times past, I specialized in catching as much candy as possible for my children, Crystal and Clarence Jr. and sometimes for the Madame. How much sweet stuff I got determined, for me, the success of the parade. Those were the days.
As many of you know, the children are bigger now and they can look out for themselves. I still, however, like the thrill of catching and hustling for candy.
The sweet tooth I have just won’t let me stop. No! I didn’t go trick or treating on Halloween but my heart did travel down memory lane.
Why? Because I still like the sweet stuff. To tell you the truth, my appetite through the years has grown insatiably for sweets. Not so much the sweet things of the world, but the sweet things of the Lord.
Like the Snickers, the lollipops, and bubble gum I once cherished now I am able to say like David: “How sweet are thy words unto my taste. Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103).
Through the years David developed a relationship with God: a relationship that grew from childhood to adulthood. David had experienced God as he kept watch over and protected his father’s sheep. He had experienced God as he stood before the mighty Goliath and brought him down with one smooth stone and sling. He experienced the mercies of God when he fell into sin by committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband killed.
Through the good times and the bad, the Word of God always left the right taste in David’s mouth.
And because of his experiences, David could say to others whom he wanted to share his experiences, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8a).
Just as the physical palate desires the sweet things, the soul has its desire and palate. And as one writer has said, “It is a good thing when the soul has a real relish for the things of God.” Tasting and seeing that the Lord is good is truly a personal thing that one must “delight in” for his or her self. David did; I do as well.
I can tell you about my far-gone days of trick or treating, I can also tell you about me jostling for candy at the Homecoming parades, but those are my experiences. To truly experience them for yourself, you must determine to get involved. No one can “taste” (experience) God for you. A personal decision has to be made to taste the sweetness of the Lord.
In Psalm 1 we have a picture of a man who did just that. His taste for the things of God is described as “delight.” That which we delight in are the things that we tend to consume the most.
Listen to what is said of this man: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruits in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (vv. 2-3 NIV).
First, this man had a love for the Word of God. He delighted in it. This says to me that the sweetness of God’s Word cannot be experienced if there is no love for the Lord.
Second, the Word has to become a part of you in order for the sweetness to be fully experienced. Thus the blessed man spent time in the Word. He dedicated himself to meditating on it both day and night.
Third, by loving the Word and spending time in the Word, the blessed man reaped the sweet benefits. He had a productive life and whatever he set his heart to do prospered.
Today, many people desire the sweet life, the sweet stuff: those things that essentially make life worth living. But few people love the Word of God, spend time studying the Word, or even living the Word of God that they may reap its benefits.
True sweetness is not found in trick or treating or any other activity where sweets abound. Take it from me, a connoisseur of sweets, true sweetness can be found only in Jesus Christ. Delight in His Word and you will surely find the sweet stuff.