8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Exodus 12
My study bible explained that the "bitter herbs" that are mentioned here could have included endive, chicory, and other bitter-tasting plants indigenous to Egypt. Something I've been working on for the past few years is going through recipes in a cookbook of mine. I go through one recipe every weekend. I started this because I was thoroughly intimidated by the kitchen shortly after my husband and I got married, and I did this as a way to force myself to try new things, to learn, and to get comfortable. I'm happy to say that I am comfortable now in the kitchen and now my family looks forward to the weekend experiments to see what new things we can try. (If you're curious, at the rate I'm going, I'll be done with the cookbook in about 20 years or so. This'll keep continuing for a while.)
Anyways, this relates because one of the salad recipes in the book was an endive salad. I was really excited! I had never had endive before, and couldn't even have picked it out had I not googled it. Fancy lettuce! This has to be good, right?
Well, I made the salad. My husband and I had a few bites, looked at each other, and wondered who eats endive for fun. It was terribly bitter! I think I may have managed to at least finish my salad because I knew veggies are good for me to eat, but I don't think we touched what remained. My notes for that recipe are something along the lines of "Do not make!"
Yet here we have the Israelites that are being commanded to eat these bitter herbs. God is asking this as a way of giving them a tangible reminder of the bitter years of service they spent in Egypt. It's not meant to be a pleasurable meal.
We are often called to do unpleasant things. Such as, talk to an atheist. Last night, when I was perusing Facebook before going to bed, I saw a friend had posted an article titled 10 Lessons from an Atheist. I'll admit, I rolled my eyes at the title and was curious to click the link but figured it probably wasn't something I'd want to read. (I do have a few close friends who are atheist and I was assuming it was one of them that posted.) However, then I saw who had posted it. It was the worship director at my church. That wasn't someone I expected to post an article with this title. Now I was really curious, and I had to drop what I was doing and go read the article.
I'll not going to give a summary, but here's a link. Go take a read when you can. I highly encourage it.
https://answersingenesis.org/world-religions/atheism/10-lessons-from-an-atheist/
We are given a choice when we are faced with something that leaves us feeling bitter, or gives that bitter taste in our mouths. We can either give up, or we can realize that God put us in this situation as a part of his purpose. Stretch yourself, and be bold.
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