Somebody Better tell Pooh

What is golden, gooey, and a great delight to taste buds?

Honey!

My son and I like to play pretend, and his favorite characters right now are Winnie the Pooh and his gang. Naturally, he gets to be “Pooh Bear”, and I get to be Tigger (“the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I’m the only one” – but something tells me that I’m not the only dad turned Tigger). Sometimes these pretend games go all day without breaking character. In fact, on many occasions my wife and I have to say goodnight to “Pooh Bear” before our son will respond, “I do suppose it’s time for sleep.” It is just astounding. But even more impressive is that he is still “Pooh Bear” when he wakes up!

He’ll say to me “Uh, Tigger, my tummy is a little grumbly, do you have any honey?” If I respond with “No, sorry Pooh. No Honey”, he replies on cue, “Oh bother.” But if I respond with “Why yes Pooh, we do have honey,” he replies, “Oh yay, oh yay, my tummy would love a smackerel”. Then all day we are at it again.

My son, like Pooh Bear, loves honey. It is my job to teach him that there is something that is better than honey. There is something that is sweeter to the tongue and more satisfying to the “tummy”.

Better than Honey

Psalm 119:103-104 says, “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.”

God’s words are sweeter than honey, and His ways are satisfying to the soul. When the words of God are on my mind and on my lips, there is something sweet about it. I love the words of blessings and promises. I love the words of action and excitement. I love the words of love and affection. I love the words of fatherhood and adoption. And I even love the words of wrath and condemnation….Wait, why?….Because I love the One who wrote them.

You see, what makes the words of God sweet to the taste is that God himself has spoken.

Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

Teaching my Children

How do we teach this to our children? How do we teach that God is good and that every word he speaks to us is sweet? In my experience, this is “easier caught than taught”. Let me give you an example. My father loves God. Growing up, I remember waking up for school, and if my dad was still at home, he was reading the Bible. This had a profound impact on me.

I have sat under many skilled and wonderful teachers of the Word, who encouraged me, exhorted me, challenged me and begged me to read my Bible. What always comes to my mind when I think about the importance of reading the words of God? It’s not one of their insightful remarks about how important the Bible is. No…What comes to mind for me is the picture of my father holding his Bible, the one with a brown leather cover, as he ate of the sweet tasting words of God.

I want to model this love for the Word of God. My children, and wife will not miss the Bible’s importance if my life is built on it.