Sweeter Than Choco-Cakes

Gabriella read Mom's grocery list as she walked down the familiar aisles at the store. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a box of chocolate cream-filled snack cakes sitting on the shelf, and her mouth watered. I wish Mom had put Choco-Cakes on this list, she thought.As she walked back to the produce section, Gabriella thought about those Choco-Cakes and how good they would have tasted. She found her mother and placed the items from her list into the cart. "Why the frown?" asked Mom. "Are you upset about something?""No," answered Gabriella. "I was just wishing I could have picked up Choco-Cakes instead of all this stuff. I just love those things!" She rolled her eyes dramatically. "When I walk past them, I can almost hear them call out my name. 'Gabriella--I'm over here! Buy me! Eat me!' They're so good!" She and Mom both laughed."And what does the honey say when you walk by?" asked Mom as she took a jar of honey from a floor display. "It's sweet. Does it call your name too?"Gabriella shrugged. "No. Honey's okay, but I don't ever crave it. Do you?""No, but I think a lot of people in the Bible did," Mom said thoughtfully. "Some verses I read in the book of Psalms this morning included one that mentions honey, where the author says God's words are sweeter than honey.""I remember that verse," said Gabriella. "We had to learn it for church once. Maybe it would make more sense to me if I liked honey better.""The writer must have liked honey a lot," said Mom. "But he's saying that he likes God's Word even better. But for you…" Mom paused. "Why not think of it this way? God wants you to be hungry for His Word--the Bible--because it tells us what Jesus did to save us and reminds us of who we are as God's children. Through it, God gives us wisdom and encouragement for our lives. God wants you to be more hungry for His Word than for anything else in this world, including Choco-Cakes!"Gabriella grinned. "That I can understand," she said. "That would mean I like God's Word a whole lot!" –Jaunita Urbach