A Taste for Reality

Have you ever decided to develop a taste for some food that you never liked before? Some people don’t like avocados, beets, or cauliflower, for example. But if they decide that a certain food is good for them and realize that they should learn to like it, they can choose to develop a taste for it, with God’s help.

In today’s age of virtual reality and cyber life, many live in a digital fantasy world. Many, many trust implicitly in whatever they see online; they forget there’s a practical life we need to prepare for—an earthly existence and most importantly, the option to seek eternity.

The temptation to overlook the reality of eternal life has existed throughout history, including in the time of Ellen G. White, who wrote:

“I am laboring to call the attention of the young to the close searching of the Scriptures. I am laboring to have them bring to the foundation gold, silver, and precious stones, that the last day cannot consume. I am working with pen and voice to awaken the youth to the stern realities just about to open before us and to lead them to leave the superficial, the fictitious in everything large and small, for living realities, that they shall not live an unreal, imaginary life, but take right hold of the verity and truth of practical life. It is realities with which we are to deal. Everything is tainted and corrupted with falsehood and fiction in this age. We want now solid truth for our foundation. Men and women are asleep. Youth are enchanted, infatuated with the false. They lay upon the foundation hay, wood, and stubble which the fires of the last day will consume. The mind will be of the same character as the food is composed of upon which it has been fed. There is only one remedy; that is, to become conversant with the Scriptures. We cannot study the Bible too much. Christ said, ‘Search the Scriptures;’ but the natural heart would search everything else rather than the Scriptures.”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, pp. 259, 260.

If we find that our natural heart is inclined to read almost anything but Scripture—or even this little Youth Messenger magazine that points to the value of God’s Word, then it’s worthwhile to pray to the Lord for help. What kind of help? A fresh taste and desire for eternal reality. . . . He’s more than happy to supply it. Why not ask?