How it tastes

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

HOW IT TASTES

Prov 23:6-8

6 Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.

NIV

A strange saying or at least a strange way of saying it. Why bother going out to dinner with a friend who says he wants to pay for the dinner, but then is telling you how high priced the food is in this place. Or he orders the cheapest thing on the menu making you feel guilty for ordering anything higher priced. If a person is always thinking about the cost of the meal then his heart is really not in paying for you to have a good time, but to simply make you think he enjoys giving, when in reality he only thinks about his own finances. This also applies to our hearts. When we invite someone to dine with us, make them feel free to order anything on the menu. When we invite them over for dinner put on a spread that is fit for a king, not some stingy halfhearted attempt to feed them. The idea here is when we are treated that way or treat a guest with a stingy attitude it leaves a bad taste in our and their mouths. The only reason a person who is being stingy is they really are not interested in the other person, but only themselves. How about the times we get together with new people for a dinner out or maybe just desert. When the wait person asks, “Will this be separate or one check?” what is our response? What is the others response? Do we wait for them to say, “Separate” or do we chime in with, “One check please” and tell our new acquaintances, “It is our pleasure”?  Waiting for them to say something might give them the impression we are stingy, leaving a bad taste in their mouths. It would seem it is far better to be generous. God will reward the generous, but we cannot be sure about any reward the stingy will receive. Let us not be the person concerned about the cost of food. Let us be the kind of person who considers the cost of life. We represent Christ who gave his life for us. How can we not be generous when it comes to others? This idea of that being stingy is good stewardship is simply bunk, it is not true. Good stewardship is trusting God to supply all our needs. Let us not give people a bad taste in their mouths, after all we are the salt of the earth. Salt is not only a preservative, but it awakens the taste buds making the food taste the best it can be. Let us leave a good taste in others mouths. This principle applies to all aspects of life. What kind of taste do we as believers leave in the mouths of others? If they are unbelievers what taste do we leave them with? If with other believers, what kind of taste do we leave them with? It comes down to how does our life taste to others? Is it sweet and savory, or sour and chewy? How it tastes matters.