Brussels Sprouts, meatloaf, and squash were just a few things I would not eat as a child. My;mother could smoother them with cheese or ketchup but it did not make them anymore appealing. It wasn’t until my dad found the secret key to unlock my palate that I learned to appreciate each of the flavors and tastes of these foods which I still enjoy to this day. The key lay in my favorite meal, my mother’s fried chicken. To get me to eat everything on my plate, my dad would tell me, “it taste like chicken.”
I would woof that food down so fast all while dreaming about tasting my mom’s golden fried chicken. From the wings to the back, and even my favorite piece, the neck, my mom’s chicken was the best in the world to me.
Have you ever heard the Word of God and it was hard for you to chew and swallow? Have you found yourself in a service where the preacher sounded as if they were talking directly to you about the things you need to change in your life and you almost choked? You ate the praise and worship, you swallowed the fellowship with the saints, but when it came to the Word, you
choked and couldn’t digest it.
There was a time when it was hard for me to digest the Word. I pushed many sermonic plates aside because I didn’t like the way they tasted to my spirit. There were too many scriptures speaking to my flesh and I was not ready to swallow that.
I found it hard to eat Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (NKJV) When I was in the midst of my sinful life, digesting these scriptures were just like eating brussels sprouts. My flesh; did not like the taste.
It took a Pastor to reveal the key that would open me up to receive that Word and that key was found at the end of those verses. In order for me to inherit the kingdom of God, I had to stop what I was doing. He basically showed me the part of those verses that were the golden fried chicken. The prized part of the meal was waiting on me and in order to get the prize, I had to
chew the scriptures in their entirety and pretend that it all tasted like chicken so I could swallow those words up and let them change me on the inside.
There was a lot in God’s Word that I did not want to accept for my life before I knew better. Before I understood that even though it did not taste good, it was good for me. Now I look forward to feasting off the Word.
Psalm 34:8 reads, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (KJV) I dare you taste and see and if you close your eyes and chew on every Word of God and swallow it, I bet it taste like chicken.
Meet the Contributor
Deborah Woolard is a single mother of three from Raleigh, NC and she currently resides in Charlotte, NC. She is an ordained & licensed minister and she serves as the Youth Director at R5 Church. Her love for writing, especially poetry is one of the many ways God allows her to use her gifts for His glory. Her poetry can be viewed at https://m.facebook.com/gracefullydsignedbydeborah/.