Butter Side Down

As Ben and I were eating breakfast the other day, I noticed that he was eating his toast with the butter side down and toward his tongue. I was going to correct him but stopped.

I asked myself, "Self, why don't you eat your toast butter side down? When you make a sandwich, do you not put the condiments you want to taste toward the bottom so you can taste them better? Why not eat the toast butter side down so you can fully taste the butter and the nuances of the bread that the butter brings out?"

I had no good answer for myself other than my parents corrected me when I was small and since there was no danger of the butter falling off the toast in its upside down position (as might happen with jelly, preserves, or apple butter) there's no good reason not to eat the toast butter side down.

But, then something else struck me, what other bread am I not tasting fully?

32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:32-40 (NIV)

So, remembering Jesus, the bread of life, who gave His life for me, I joyfully turned my toast butter side down and took a big bite, savoring the melted goodness of the butter within the nooks and crannies.

"Taste and see that the LORD is good;" Psalm 34:8a (NIV)