Eating: Lovely and Bitter

Dramatic as it may sound, I have been waiting for one of these for a while; a lovely day. Last night, upon being asked what was the matter I found myself replying with the ever-so-pathetic 'Just about everything is the matter.'
Wow- what a seemingly loaded yet flat response. Nonetheless today was, simply put, lovely. I don't even know what to do with it. I'm not smiling ear-to-ear, I am very content, that which was 'wrong' is not yet 'right' but I'm ok with the wrong-ness of it all.

In my readings of Revelations this morning, John was commissioned to eat the small scroll from the hand of the angel.... ya.... Eating a scroll. While the Lord warned that it would taste of honey to his lips but be bitter on the inside, I looked down at my over-poppy-seeded everything bagel and could not compare. With an obedient heart, John ate and experienced both the sweet and bitter. 

How often do we only want the sweet, extracting that which is bitter? The fact that God gives such a taste to John shows how we must realize that sometimes, it's a package deal. Eat up the word of God, drink in His spirit, hold it within. Scriptures state that what comes from the lips is a reflection of the heart, how the reverse of this must also be true.  The molding of a pure, wise and God-fearing heart is through the injesting of the same. We all need the scripture, man cannot survive on bread alone; the spirit can do better than survive, hearing, believing and abiding by the Word of God. As for the taste, how often do we celebrate knowledge but do not fully understand the reality of His plans? David Hocking puts it better than I ever could:

"Perhaps the full impact of what John experienced is a
reminder to all who proclaim God's wonderful Word and
speak of his coming judgment and wrath. We must speak it
with a measure of sorrow and bitterness.  A broken heart is a
prerequisite to the proclamation of God's judgment and wrath."

John is commissioned to share the Word of God and to continue doing so no matter how people respond, this was his great responsibility. A responsibility that we all have.

In one of my classes today, a girl (we'll say her name was Cindy) came in in a huff, sighing that people are so weird. Cindy recalled an interaction she had with a family on campus, they were handing out 'Jesus-packets.' Now, I do my best not to drop eaves on a regular basis but at such a name I can't help but to listen. Apparently, like many others, Cindy attempted to keep her sights on her fictitious texting conversation as she passed the Jesus-loving family but she could not pass without being 'trapped.' The little boy, maybe 3 years old (who Cindy claims, must have been brain-washed) toddled over to her and, resting one hand on her knee, reached up to hand her a pamphlet with the other. Out of guilt, Cindy took the small papers and the little boy said 'Jesus loves you today,' before she hustled off. Cindy was not pleased with this encounter, to say the least, but I couldn't help but to smile.

That little boy, like John, grasped his commission, sweetness and bitterness alike. Hold to the Word of God. Digest it, no matter how it fares. Chances are, if everything comes up roses, you have eaten the wrong thing.