As Sweet as Honey

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:97-104 ESV). Our reading today concerns a very specific early Jewish tradition. The scene takes place on the first day of school. The Rabbi would instruct his students to take out their slates, or personal chalkboards. Spreading honey all over them, he instructed the students to lick the honey from their slates as well as their fingers, all the while reciting the words of Psalm 119:103. Just as nothing was sweeter than this pure honey, nothing was more enjoyable than tasting, receiving, and accepting the words of God. Imagine the unforgettable experience this created for the students. God’s word hasn’t changed. It’s just as sweet now as it was for those students centuries ago. A million things compete for our time and attention — school activities, work commitments, family obligations, over-time, part-time, you name it. All these things vie for our time and threaten to rob us of the joy of spending time with God’s sweet, sweet word. Jesus knew what being busy was intimately. The gospel is replete with images of a Jesus constantly in action. He was always going, teaching, healing, doing. However, despite all this activity, Jesus modeled a lifestyle centered on praying, fasting, and communing with God. Jesus knew the sweetness of life spent with God, a life that would sustain him along his journey from manger to cross. That’s the real key to success. I have seen numerous books and articles concerning the secrets to achieve success. All of those I have read seem to have two things in common. They all have a list of more things for us to do in order to be successful. The writers seem to indicate that the busier we are with their list, the more we will succeed. I don’t know about you, but for me, I’m plenty busy now. I don’t need more to do. They also leave out one key principle. Success comes from a vibrant relationship with our heavenly Father. To get that often requires that we simply be still and listen to His words. I used to remark that the faster I go, the behinder I got. Well, that true most of the time. It is not an automatic truth that busy is better. I am more and more reminded that being still and hearing from the Lord through the Scripture is the one consistent principle leading us to success. How’s your study time doing? Is it as sweet as honey? It can be.