What do you savor?

Mark 8:33

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

The tendency of every human being alive is to savor the things that be of men. What do they think of me? How can I make them happy? How will everything work out so I can keep the relationships that I cherish? How can I create the smallest amount of disagreement and difference? How can I smooth all things over and never perturb a person? Yes, we are to live peaceably with all men! But, you see, the life that the disciples of Christ are to live is a life that is given to the Lord, and it is a life that is contrary and incompatible with the world. If we are truly disciples of Him, we shall savor the things that be of God! And we will not savor the things that be of men! We will not care who approves of us and who commends us! We will not be concerned with the applause, the adulation, or the approbation of those about us, for those are only the things that be of men!

You see, here Peter could not fathom what the Lord had just said. Christ told him that He would suffer and be rejected of all the leaders of the day, that He would be killed, and raised the third day. But this supplanted the thinking of Peter. It ran counter to his presumptions, and turned his world upside down. Christ suffer? Surely not! Be beaten, spat upon, and crucified? Of course not! This was not His plight! But that is because Peter was stuck in the bog of his own mind. He could not think outside of the things that he savored. And so many of us, dearly beloved, share in this same attribute. We want things a certain way. We want everything to fall into place according to our plan. But nothing could be more dangerous than this thinking. “Get thee behind me, Satan,” says our Lord. We must reject our selfish, stubborn thinking. We must not savor the things that be of men, but we must savor the things that be of God.

What do you savor this morning? Are you relishing the things of God, His Word, His ways, and His ministry? Or has this world enamored you with its sounds and lights? Have you become more concerned with the life you have hoped to live, and have forgotten the life the Lord has for you? I hope this is not true! But, just as you savor certain foods, and become repulsed at others, so should it be with us. Do not savor what man can give, what man can offer, or how man will approve you. The only thing that matters is whom the Lord commendeth. The only approval we should seek is the Lord’s, and the only way we should walk is the pathway of our Savior. May we savor this morning the wonderful, precious, and sweet things of God and His Word.

“Dear Lord, how we praise You for reminding us of the things which truly matter—the things that be of God. May we not savor the things of the world, the things of men, or our own desires and dreams. May we savor Your ways and Your plans, and may we look only for Your commendation. Oh Lord, may our appetite be toward Thee! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”