I love spicy food. I even started a pepper garden in my backyard so that I can grow my own peppers and make my own sauces. But here’s what I’ve grown to believe: there is such a thing as too spicy. Sometimes, the peppers that I grow are just a little bit too much. The flavor is there, but the burn lingers, and it’s hard to swallow. In a way, that’s a picture of what John experienced when he was told to eat the scroll in Revelation. In Revelation 10:10, he recorded for us,
“And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.”
God’s Word is sweet, life-giving, and nourishing; the flavor is like honey on our lips (Ps. 119:103). We get that part. The promises of God are rich and life-giving. His Word is nourishment to our souls, joy for our hearts, and hope for our future. There is nothing sweeter than hearing His voice and tasting His goodness.
However, here John claims that it’s also bitter. Just like spicy food wakes up your senses, the bitter parts of God’s Word that are hard to swallow are designed to wake up your soul. Have you ever read Scripture and felt God put His finger on something in your heart? A hidden sin, an unchecked attitude, a behavior you’d rather excuse? At first, that kind of conviction stings. It can feel like a bitter pill to swallow. But it’s a necessary bitterness, one that ultimately heals, refines, and sets us free. God’s Word not only comforts, it confronts.
Here’s the truth: God loves you too much to let sin remain in your life unchecked. Sweet and bitter, comfort and conviction; both are gifts of grace meant to shape us into the people God longs for us to be. In Revelation, the bitterness also points to the reality of judgment. God will make all things new, but He will not allow evil to go unchecked in His restored creation. That’s good news for His people because it means deliverance, renewal, and justice. But it’s also sobering, because judgment means separation for those who resist Him. The same Word that promises freedom also announces that sin cannot remain.
Notice that John didn’t get to choose which parts of the scroll to eat. He didn’t savor the honey and skipped the bitterness. He ate the whole thing. That’s discipleship. We don’t edit God’s Word to fit our preferences. We receive it all, allowing the sweet parts to encourage us and the bitter parts to correct us. Both are necessary if we are to be shaped into the likeness of Jesus.
Before you continue with the rest of your day, pause for a moment. When was the last time something God said to you tasted bitter? If it’s been a long time, why do you think that is? If it’s happened recently, how did you respond? The bitter and the sweet are both aspects of our discipleship; we need both to be formed into the image of Christ.
Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor