Every excursion to the farm in Newport, North Carolina, brings an up-close adventure in pig life where the smells are strong and distasteful! Understanding the strict laws of the Jewish people concerning pigs, paints a thought-provoking picture. And so, reading Proverbs 11:22 clearly makes a Jewish person sit up and take notice. But I hope it will enlarge our thinking as well, so we develop “good taste” as God desires for each of us.

“As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion”

Dan Phillips in his Commentary explains it this way:

The mental image is that of looking at a lovely, sparkling gold ring, admiring a twinkling in the sun—then seeing that it is in a pig’s snout. Wasted! Misplaced! Thus, Solomon says, is a lady with a beautiful outside and nothing going on inside.

Phillips translates “discretion” as “good taste.” …the ability to discern, to judge, to distinguish among “flavors” of good and evil, of wisdom and folly.

He goes on to say:

The picture is not simply of a pretty woman without a lot in the area of native IQ…. She is not simply “lacking,” but she “turns away.” This woman chooses not to develop her God-given brains, turns aside from the things that would develop her judgment and taste—primary among such things, of course, is the learning of the Word of God. The New Testament ties this all together for us and shows the way to having a discerning taste, in Hebrews 5:14, “but solid food is the diet of the mature, who on account of habit have their faculties drilled (or exercised) for distinguishing good from evil” (DJP).

This month, I want to experience a “boot camp” affect whereby drills are exercised for better judgment and a Discerning Taste! So, as I focus on a “dairy, sugar” fast, I want to do it for all the right reasons; digging deeper into the Word of God and gaining new ground so that I am not just getting by but instead, I am soaring through the month. I want to wake up each morning thinking of spending the day with my Heavenly Father and reflecting His glory. The struggle is real and so often my thoughts are centered on feeding my sweet tooth. It can easily become the pattern of the day to eat what I want and indulge as much as I want. Folly prevails over wisdom. But through prayer and Scripture meditation and the power of the Holy Spirit who lives inside of me, the road to acquiring that discerning taste Dan Phillips speaks of is made possible.

Lord, help each of us who call God our Father, Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit our Helper choose to sparkle and shine like a ring of gold for your glory and honor!

Each morning prayer for my fast by A.W. Tozer:

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.

AMEN!