There is a candy dish on my desk filled with soft peppermint balls. Those who spend any time in our building know this. The reactions to this offering are varied to some degree, but they all carry an element of delight. Children enter my office with their eyes focused on the candy, then look up at me and back at their moms to silently ask if it is all right to take one. Adults spot it, say, "Oh, this is just what I need; may I?" I pop way more into my mouth in a day than I should, but that pure sugar is so good!

I got to thinking about how we greet this candy compared with how we approach the study of God's word. Jeremiah says, "Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16) Ezekiel 3:3 says, "He said to me, 'Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you." Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth." From Psalm 34:8 we hear, "O taste and see that the Lord is good;"

Now, of course, we are not literally going to eat the Bible, but we are certainly to study it and to internalize it, to gain sustenance and strength from it. Even though at times God's word is convicting and speaks of judgment, there is still a sweetness because it is God's word. It is only as we delight in it that it becomes "a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105)