Message summary: The Psalmist wrote, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Throughout the day may we all taste of the goodness of the Lord as it lingers in our thoughts and thereby in our actions! Perhaps we all need a sign that reads, "Spiritual Munching Allowed!" or better yet, "Spiritual Munching Encouraged!"

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"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103).

This last Saturday we visited the Hershey Story Museum in Hershey, PA, known as the sweetest place on earth. We learned about the company and the man behind it, Milton Snavely Hershey. It's a great museum with lots of information about not only the company but the town. Hershey was a very enterprising businessman and by all accounts sought to make the world a better place.

Several times during the tour our guide would share a Hershey kiss with us. He informed us the plant makes 70,000,000 daily so they could probably spare a few for the tourists!

Chocolate is not mentioned in the Bible. It is made from the cacao bean and was unknown in the ancient Near East where the Bible was written. But the taste and scent sensation of "sweet" sure is. The first reference is of "sweet-smelling cinnamon" in Exodus 30:23.*¹ 

But the most famous sweet-tasting food in the Bible is honey. As the children's song says "Bees make honey and it sure tastes good". The first reference to honey in the Bible was when Jacob sent a gift back to Egypt, "a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds" (Genesis 43:11).

When a three-year-old child starts learning the Torah in a Jewish school for the first time, it is customary to place a little honey on the letters of the alphabet, which the child then licks happily, so the child learns to associate the Torah with delight and good taste.*² What a great idea to sweeten God’s word to our children's hearts!

One of Brooksyne's favorite candies is "Bit-O-Honey" a small, chewy morsel with a rich, creamy, honey-nutty flavor. It's basically taffy that gets its unique flavor from honey and bits of shredded almonds and originated over 100 years ago so she even had it when she was a little girl! Anyone remember the Bit-O-Honey candy bars of years past?

Physically, munching can lead to over indulgence and undesirable weight gain. With the availability of single serving packaged foods, 24 hour convenience stores, and food at our disposal most anywhere we go, munching abounds. Some wouldn't even have a sense of what three square meals a day means!

But there is an area of life where munching is in fact a good thing because it contributes to spiritual growth.

The ability to regularly partake of spiritual nutrition, such as meditative munching on God's Word throughout the day, is healthy. It might be a Bible verse shared by a friend, a brief prayer at work with a fellow worker or an edifying Christian song we hear on the radio. We hope for many of you healthy munching on spiritual morsels throughout your day includes this brief Daily Encouragement message!

The Psalmist wrote, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Throughout the day may we all taste of the goodness of the Lord as it lingers in our thoughts and thereby in our actions! Perhaps we all need a sign that reads, "Spiritual Munching Allowed!" or better yet, "Spiritual Munching Encouraged!"

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber