SWEET BUT BITTER!
Sometime ago I went out to a restaurant with a friend. I was settled on what I wanted to drink, while my friend was very unsure. Eventually there was the quest to try something new and different from the normal. Finally this nice looking drink Bicicletta spritz arrived. It was fancy: beautiful color, and mouth watering. At the first sip the look on his face caught my attention, and I suspected something doesn’t look / taste right. So he told me with the first drop in the mouth it tastes sweet, but when it actually gets down you throat it becomes bitter. While I sat there in curious imagination of how that exactly that mean, I quickly took a sip. Now I can understand, and described it as “sweet but bitter”.
Isn’t that exactly the taste of sin at a first sip? The appearance of it is so pleasing ; beautiful; mouth watery; and the first taste can be so sweet. Well, those who are ‘sinless’ (if there be any) cannot relate to this so they won’t understand 😀. But for those of us who are striving to please God, I’m pretty sure you can recall when you first engaged in that act: be it gossiping; stealing; lying; backstabbing, jealousy or sex to name but a few? It was not anything bad or ‘bitter’ at first; but as it sank in and the consequences manifested, we realized that sweet was now bitter, and we no longer liked it. We wished we would never have fell in for the enticement or attractiveness to begin with.
If you find yourself facing the reality of the bitterness of sin, struggling under its load, and are in doubt that you can ever find acceptance, I want to you know you’re in good company.
A renowned Puritan writer Thomas Watson once said “Till sin be bitter; Christ will not be sweet”. As the prodigal son realized the bitterness of sin, and found his way back to the true the sweetness of the father, you too can come out of that life of bitterness into which you had been enticed, and find your way back home in true repentance.
As you go this week remember the words of the Lord to
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28 (NLT)
Don’t forget to smile coz it looks good on you.
God bless you.
Ps. Kuku
