Written by Sue Sanders
John Ortberg declares, “Part of why delighting in the Scriptures is harder for us than for the ancients is that we have many more tempting alternatives. When David was watching sheep, he had nothing better to do, so he wrote psalms, memorized them, and sang them. They shaped his mind” (Ortberg 106 ).
My brother and I grew up on a small farm in Green Pond, SC. We attended a small country church, and most of the social events centered on church related activities: socials, ball games, fish fries, fundraisers. We had a television, but we were not glued to it. We read endlessly, loading up weekly in the summer at the library and the book mobile that came to the post office in Green Pond. We rode our bikes, helped in the garden, played hide and go seek with our friends, and acted out our own versions of cowboys and Indians. There were no video games, internets, facebook/twitter accounts, endless cable television options, Kindle with endless books.
Ortberg emphasizes this truth: “In a world with so many easy options to amuse or distract our minds, we all have to learn to be fed by the Bible” (106). Even years ago without the distractions, I think that we had to learn to “be fed by the Bible.” My husband had a unique capacity to crawl into Scripture and make it come alive. He took Psalm 34:8 literally and experienced the wonders of the Word of God. His palate tasted the Word, and he saw with spiritual eyes. As the palate develops joy in certain tastes and rejects others, each of us needs to develop his or her spiritual palate so that it chooses what is good.
Hearts United Women's Ministry 