Not A Bitter Pill

Are you self-taught? I am. I’ve always had a tendency to watch others, read instructions carefully then roll up my sleeves and get to work. I learn by doing and frankly, that’s about the only way I can get things to sink into my thick skull where I won’t forget. So anyway, I’m having lots of fun laying down the new floors in the house. I’m always up to a new challenge and as always when the endeavor is new, planning ahead, as what to do next, can be difficult. Nothing spoils a good project like having to backtrack, you know, tearing up what you thought was finished, because something else should have been done first. Well, I’ve only had to back-up once so far because of my poor planning, and unlike some of the other many blunders in my past, this last bitter pill of “redo” wasn’t all that hard to swallow. Now, on to the next room.
I guess we’ve all had to back-up and been forced to swallow a bitter pill or two. While preparing the bulletin for a church, the editor called the preacher to get his sermon topics for the upcoming Sunday. The preacher replied that he had not yet selected the morning topic but the evening sermon would be on the text, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” Not waiting for a decision on the morning sermon title the editor pressed on toward publication. When the announcements appeared, here’s what they read. Morning: “Sermon By Minister”; Evening: “What The Fool Said”. (Oooops!)
[Hebrews 2] (v. 9) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. I sometimes wonder what children are being taught about the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Last week the world celebrated the resurrection of Christ, but I fear the day passed by most children, shrouded with bunny rabbits and eggs. I also wonder if adults are able to explain to their children the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. I honestly believe we have been so desensitized about death, we have lost our reverence for that which Christ did for our sins and souls. Have you ever smelled death? How do you think Christ must have smelled as he hung nearly naked on the cross? He had been up all night, now sweaty and dirty. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life, bloody from head to toe. He had been mocked, insulted and spat upon. Less than twenty-four hours earlier Jesus dined with the twelve and shared with them unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. He explained to the disciples that the bread was His body and the fruit of the vine was His blood and asked them to continue sharing this feast among the believers until His return. He said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” If the unleavened bread we eat tasted like his body, mingled with blood, sweat and spit, it would be disgusting – impossible to put into ones mouth. If the fruit of the vine tasted like real blood, thick, salty and warm, most of us wouldn’t be strong enough to stomach it. God has protected us from these tastes. The fruit of the vine is sweet and unleavened bread nearly tasteless. The emblems blend into a pleasant after-taste that lingers as we think about His death. And while we must physically die some day, God has protected us from spiritual death through Jesus, for He has tasted death for everyone and brought us back into a one on one relationship with God. Jesus is not a bitter pill to be taken, but rather the Sweet Savior of our lost souls.