Corn syrup (1811)… Molasses… Ripe peaches / pears… Sugar… Watermelon… Grapes… Honey… High fructose corn syrup (1950’s)
Many fruits are naturally sweet to the taste when ripe. Some things are sweet when refined like sugar, molasses, and corn syrup. But one natural thing can stay sweet without refinement indefinitely due to its statistical contents and character – honey. Some ancient Egyptian pyramid explorations have found honey discovered in them. That means over 3,000 years old.
In Eastern California, what’s claimed to be the oldest living thing on the planet is “Methuselah”, and Great Basin Bristlecone pine tree. There is just one tree in the country of Chile that COULD be about 500 years older, and that’s a Patagonian Cypress tree. There was substantial suspicion about the dating method of that Chilean tree, so the verifiable claim still resides on “Methusaleh”.
Also, we use “sweet” for things like a relationship, a cool classic car, a hole-in-one, a passing grade on a tough test, a puppy’s affection, a great home-made apple pie, or watching a phenomenon like the Northern Lights or a huge wave off the Hawaiian Islands.
But what has been the “sweetest” the longest? Even though Jesus was on this planet about 2,000 years ago, His embodiment of God’s love has been consistent over creation. Jesus’s love has been experienced over two thousand years in a way that by such a variety of people, that it can’t be numbered!
In fact, there have been many songs about God’s love that are old. All the way back to songs sung when there were few people on earth. The love of God has been characterized by “sweet” and music has been composed and lyrics written about how “sweet” God’s love is:
“In The Sweet By and By” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” “The Name of Jesus is so Sweet”
“Sweet Hour of Prayer” “There’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in This Place” “Sweet Jesus”
“Jesus is the Sweetest name I Know” “Sweetly Lord, We Have Heard Thee Calling”
There really is a peace, a refuge in troubled times, a sweetness of closeness when we are in deep prayer, and a relief that often times can’t be described when we are in HIS presence. The sweetness of looking at the oldest tree on earth or the sweetness of experiencing the flavor of the oldest honey on earth cannot compare to the oldest love on earth: The love of God for us. Memories can escape us when senior years can erode the preciousness of time past, the incredible flavors of exquisite foods pass quickly after no more than a cope of days, but the sweet fellowship of our Lord remains through all types of trials, celebrations, sorrow, disappointments, jubilations, or cataclysmic events.
“Lord, thank You for allowing a simple thing like honey to be the perfect example of something that has indefinite life when properly cared for. We care for YOU! And You care for us! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”