Through the chuckles, he said, “You have to stick to food
that never expires, bro.”
I replied, “Like what? What foods do not ever expire.”
His words stumbled out of his mouth as I knew he didn’t have
an answer. Finally, he muttered, “I don’t know, honey. Honey never expires.”
Five years later, I recall that moment in the pantry. When I
read about Jesus telling the crowd near Capernaum that he is the bread of life
and that the one who “eats the bread will live forever,” (John 6:58) and that
Jesus is “the bread of life. Whoever comes to [him] will never grow hungry and whoever
believes in [him] will never be thirsty” (John 6:35), I thought about honey. Since
I am no honey connoisseur, I saw the first answer that appeared on my iPhone.
According to wellandgood.com, “Honey never expires…” when “…Kept sealed in an
airtight container…even if it crystalizes or darkens over time.”
Not only was Kevin right about honey never expiring, but
when properly taken care of, it still holds its value even after visual signs
indicate it appears inedible over time.
The more I thought about this idea of honey, Kevin’s conversation with me, and the comparison it could have to Jesus’ words to the crowd about never growing hungry or thirsty, the clearer the picture became to me:
Milk, after time, becomes moldy and curdles; strawberries grow white mold on them after being in the refrigerator too long. Chicken gets poisoned and becomes toxic to eat after 3-5 days after cooked. Even soda goes flat after being opened and sits around for a while. Honey is eternal. Honey is dependable and reliable. Further, if used properly and kept sealed in an airtight container, honey lasts forever. Just like honey, the Word of God and the love of the Father never goes bad; it never becomes worthless, a waste of space. His words and promises never grow stale like Wonder bread. It never collects flies like fruit on the countertop. Jesus is dependable and reliable because he is eternal and the truth that will set us free from bondage.
How do we receive the sweetness
of honey? We make use of it in our lives by applying it to the cereal,
biscuits, yogurt parfaits, tea, cookies, etc. How do we receive the goodness
and eternal life through Jesus – we make use of the Truth he presents to us in
our lives by applying it to every situation and circumstance. We allow Him,
like honey does to our diet, to change us from the inside out. If we do not let
our diet be filled with the sweetness of honey, honey is no longer connected to
us and we are no longer influenced by it. If we sever ourselves from connection
with Jesus, who does not expire or change for the worst, we lose that influence
he has over us. We gravitate towards idols that crumble, fall, and destroy us.
John 15:4 says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in
you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you
cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
We must allow the sweetness of
Jesus to not just transform us, but forever transform our diet. He must invade
the pantry of our heart, and once we make a habit of doing this, it will never
expire when he is properly hidden within our hearts and shared to the world as
the Good News. Psalm 119:11 says, I have hidden
your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Let us not hold back
on making Jesus, the honey that never expires, the central focus of our lives,
the one we aim to glorify and please, and the most satisfactory aspect of our
pantry.