Thursday: ’Tis So Sweet!
Daily Lesson for Thursday 30th of April 2026
Think about your favorite dessert. Is it good for your health? Perhaps you use honey as a sweetener, or you may even use Manuka honey for its purported medicinal benefits. If you’ve ever tried honeycomb, you’ll know how sweet the soft texture is as it melts onto your tongue.
In Psalms 119:103-104, the psalmist describes the Bible as a honeycomb—a metaphor for delight: “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding” (NKJV).
What does it mean that “through your precepts I get understanding”? (Psalms 119:104). Why is this idea important in grasping what Bible study does for us?
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
Yes, God’s words are indeed sweet to our souls and unlike anything else the world offers us. Unlike many desserts, the sweetness of God’s Word is healing to our souls and life-changing for our characters. If you’ve been distant from God, you can fall on your knees, open His Word, and drink from the living water that alone will satisfy.
In Isaiah 55:1-13, the prophet expands on the message mentioned above. Spend some time reading this chapter now, and then answer these questions:
• What does the Lord give to those who come to Him, to “eat” from His Word?
• What is His invitation to you here?
• What is His challenge?
• What is His promise?
God’s living and powerful Word cuts straight to our hearts, minds, and souls as it challenges us to grow in Christ. But it can do this for us only to the degree that we take the time and effort (and yes, it takes effort) to delve into the Word with an attitude of submission and humility and a willingness to follow what it teaches.
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What are concrete ways you can “seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6, NKJV)? |
The author refers to Manuka honey. I’m guessing that most of you have either not heard of it, or if you have, you have probably heard it in the context of its perceived medicinal value. I grew up on Manuka honey. It is a New Zealand specialty. We had 4 beehives on the farm, and every year Dad would extract the honey. Admittedly, it was not always pure Manuka, we had white-clover, Kamahi and Rata flowering throughout the year as well. But there was quite a large patch of Manuka growing near the swamp in the middle of the farm and the bees were always busy collecting nectar from it when in flower.
We used lots of honey; it was our natural sweetener. During the extraction process, we often had honey in the honeycomb, and then we had liquid honey. Dad always candied the bulk of it because it kept better that way, through the year till the next harvest. We kids liked it that way because it was hard to spread on bread. That gave us an excuse to pile it high.
The metaphor of honey for Bible study is an apt one and it is worth thinking about. So much Bible study has to do with proving a point, vindicating a doctrine, disciplining our mind, and condemning others, that we often overlook the fact that the Bible is a rattling good read! There is something special about just enjoying the ambience. It is like sharing a poem or song with a friend.
A little bit of history: The mandate given to the translators for the King James Version includes the directive that it should sound good when read aloud in churches. The literacy rate in England around the time the King James Version was published was around about 10%. Thus, the only Bible many people had access to was what was read to them in churches. The phrasing style adopted for this translation has been an influence in spoken English on formal occasions ever since. More modern translations and paraphrases have had less emphasis on grand “reading aloud” style but are certainly very readable.
Here is a suggestion: Why not have a sermon now and then, composed entirely of Bible readings where the readers have put some effort into the presentation rather than just reading it ad hoc? We might be surprised, not only how enjoyable it is, but may also learn something new in the process.
Tis so sweet. A great title to finish this weeks discussion. Tis so sweet, not only to trust in Jesus, but to spend time with Him, finding a place to let Him talk and you do some talking too on a daily basis. Be humble in your devotion and He will open your minds to His love, mercies and sacrifices. The song this lesson alludes to is found in this hymn. Look at the words and see how many things you can see that coincide with the Bible, and has some answers also to the questions in today’s lesson. Song 524 in the Seventh-day Adventist hymnal.
1 ‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at his word;
just to rest upon his promise,
and to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!
How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust him more!
2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood! [Refrain]
3 Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace. [Refrain]
If you read the lesson today you will find that the author most likely reads our Sabbath School net. Thank-you. Maurice for sharing your countries with us through the years and today.
We are truly living in times when God’s Word is more accessible than ever, unfortunately the impact has been so shallow than any other time before. The bible reminds us that it’s not just about hearing the truth, but receiving and living it deeply. Psalm 119 103, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” God’s Word was never meant to be dry like any other information but was rather to nourish, delight, and transform our lives from within. The sweetness of the word is to be experienced when we slow down, meditate on it, and allow it to shape our thoughts and actions. James 1:22 reminds us, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The sweetness of the Word must become a reality when it becomes more than mere knowledge but more of our experience.
May the wisdom of God help us carry the sweetness into the world as it is one thing to know the scripture and another to let it inform our choices, actions,words, and attitudes in our interactions. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” When God’s Word takes root in our lives it begins to flow out of us, changing how we speak, how we reason, how we respond under pressure, and how we treat others even when no one is watching. The sweetness of God’s truth must become evident in our actions. The call is not just to consume God’s Word, but to savor it and allow the Scriptures to shape our lives and reflect its sweetness in all aspects of our lives.
We can explain how sweet honey is and its health benefits, but if we have not eaten or tasted it, it all means very little to us. Theoretical knowledge without practical experience is like seeing shadows. It is no different with the Word of God. We can eloquently and deeply expound on the Word of God but if we have not actualized it in our lives, it all means nothing. Many of the Pharisees and Scribes in the Bible knew so much about the Scripture (the Law of Moses), but Jesus had a problem with them most of the time because of their hypocrisy. They were very religious but very less spiritual. We must eat the Word of God by ourselves to testify of its sweetness. Yes, we can encourage one another to read the Bible as much as possible, but what makes the real difference is personal experience. We cannot benefit from Manuka honey because our neighbour has eaten it.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”(James 1:22, NKJV)
The Word of God provides powerful ideas, words of wisdom, direction, promises of protection, provisions, assurance of justice, and salvation free of charge. The Word of God is the most affordable service provider. But, we need to be aware that there is no time to waste in starting to read the Bible. Life is not always guaranteed.
Bible study is important to understand what God expects of us and the means (grace through faith) by which we are to meet His expectations.
I am beginning to discover another level and its practical results; it involves very careful listening to what God is saying ; and especially when through the Word, He begins to speak directly to me. It encompasses a level of prayerful reflection, maybe a prayerful comment to God; a quiet sense of wonder, amazement and even thoughtful adventure prompted by these amazing words – “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 NIV
Suddenly not only does my sense of self worth and self respect receive a boost; almost like a child, I begin to dream dreams. This is not wishful thinking. My graduation from three universities – the University of the West Indies, Andrews University and the University of the Southern Caribbean all began with dreams, unambiguously prompted, fanned, and those gentle reminders, given by His Spirit. Man! What a God!
A little testimony. I’ve been subbing at public schools. This week, at two different high schools, I saw the Holy Spirit using God’s Word – through me – to reach out to a student and to a teacher.
At the first school where I was subbing in the library, I was reading the Desire of Ages. A student came in with whom I’ve formed a connection….she called out her usual greeting, “Hi best friend!” In a couple of short strides she and a friend by her side made their way to my table and she glanced down at my desk. The page was open to a picture of Jesus praying, found in the chapter about the Transfiguration. “What you reading?” she asked, in a pretty loud voice. I flipped the cover and said, “Oh it’s the Desire of Ages. It’s about Jesus. Isn’t that nice!” My mind went blank. I knew the other librarian and the other kids were listening. She replied, “Cool, He has great hair!”
The extra interesting thing about this interaction is a few months ago, the day when I first met her, she volunteered that she wished I was subbing in her social studies class that afternoon as they were in a unit about world religions. That time she had said, “I wish you were teaching us. Today we’re learning about Christianity. They’ve taught us a lot about Buddhism, Hinduism, all the religions, but only one day about Christianity. Go figure.” Again it took me by surprise like a splash of water in the face. Felt like the Holy Spirit, for sure. She knew nothing about me, we had only been playing badminton together in the gym for an hour. I deeply regretted that I hadn’t really said anything that time in response, could have said something like, “Oh I love Jesus I would love to share about Christianity” or something like that….and afterwards I have prayed several times, “Lord, give me another opportunity to at least say SOMETHING to connect me with You.”
Fast forward to yesterday, different school, I had my Bible open on my subbing desk, with the Sabbath School quarterly. I had just stepped away from the desk when another teacher in the room went over to my desk area and glancing down she said, “Oh Isaiah 55,” and she bent over scanning the page and reading for about 20 seconds. I can’t imagine her doing that for any other book I could have been reading. And same as at the other school, other teachers and people were in the room. It took me off-guard. I said, “Yes, there are so many beautiful things there.” Today, I’m in the same classroom and I gave her a tract about the 8 Laws of health ….she had been talking about healthy snacks yesterday….and I wrote Isaiah 40:31 on the back…showed her that it was from Isaiah and how reading that gave me strength and energy, like the text said.
You might think I’m sharing these incidents with you to show you how good I am at passing on the blessing of God’s Word. But just the opposite. I want to shamefully confess that I am VERY meager about sharing my faith. When I first started reading my Bible at the schools during my waiting times (subs are often more like test proctors, mostly writing the lesson on the board and then sitting while the students work on their laptops for the whole class period) I would hide my Bible under papers whenever someone would approach me. Why? I have felt intimidated. Intimidated by secular culture that looks down on Christianity…for instance, from signs and clippings and artifacts around the library, I knew the librarian I was working with follows the world’s views on morality. I am intimidated by the ugly mark on Christianity by those who misapply Scriptures, such as federal government leaders in America right now who are publicly reading what we sometimes refer to as the “vengeance psalms” or “imprecatory prayers” by their way of proving the government’s authority to intimidate, threaten, bully and even kill others for their beliefs system. I have struggled to be open about my Christianity as the Jesus I know is not like the stereotype so often spread about. I suppose I even fear losing my subbing position (even though it is God who gave it to me in the first place). Satan wants to use my reticence to share my faith, to make me worry what others will think of me, but God is growing me, I can see that with gratitude. And, you may join me if you wish in praying that I will grow more bold to “be ready in season and out of season” to align myself with God’s kingdom, sharing His Word (2 Tim. 4:2). Satan certainly is not shy about planting his own flag. Public schools are full of a culture of witchcraft, killing games, immoral sexuality, and the meaninglessness, boredom, and anger that seems to be a natural outtake of a grossly false “survival of the fittest”, “dog-eat-dog” evolutionary origin story.
So I am sharing this to show what God can do with the so very, very little I offer Him. And hopefully it encourages you to go right up to the edge of your own boldness in declaring faith in Jesus to everyone around you, as well. I am reminded of the feeding of the 5,000. A little boy had 5 small barley loaves and 3 small fishes. Andrew recognized, “This is so little” (Jn. 6:9). I recognize, “I have so little. I don’t have the right words yet. I just have enough courage to leave Your Words open on my desk right now. What is this for the great need and hunger I see around me?” And yet, just as Andrew’s faith I’m sure grew, to see Jesus use the little willingly offered to feed a multitude, my faith is growing to see Jesus call out in love to His children with whatever I give Him to multiply. It is significant that several gospel accounts of both feedings of the multitudes – feeding the Jewish 5000+ and feeding the Gentile 4000+ – note that Jesus gave the bread to the disciples first, to let them distribute it to others (Matt. 14:19; 15:36; Mark 6:41; 8:6; Luke 9:16). I feel Jesus calling me to distribute the “Bread of Life”, His Word, not because He can’t do it without me, but because of the double blessing – by His grace, He can and will grow and nourish that person’s faith as well as my own.
I paid clear attention to your post here and my heart desires to pray for your efforts to shine in Jesus’s life before others. May His sweet essence flow through you and gently touch those around you to bring life to those who are willing to see.
Amen! Thank you for your encouraging prayers, sister Celeste!
Bless you Esther!! I know exactly how you feel and the longing you desire. I too have wasted so many opportunities to witness for Jesus and to share with others. I can’t undo the years that have gone by, but I will join with others in praying that we would grow in boldness and be less hesitant and ashamed. This is a prayer He will always answer!
Thank you my sister Carol! 🙏🏻
Truly it is sweet to trust in God , christ and the holyspirit . His word are a healing soul to man kind
A concrete way to keep up with the Lord is to study the Lesson! What an opportunity to develop knowledge and strengthen the relationship with Him! What a blessing this open lesson is for anyone who wants it!