When you've tasted something you really like, more of you gets involved than just your tastebuds. When my Oma had the butter on her brussel sprouts, her enjoyment of it was written all over her face. She went "mmm". She told me it was delicious - more than once! She wanted more. That's similar to the reaction you'll get from me over Southwest Potato Skins from Boston Pizza. Mmmm! You've gotta taste this! Mmmm! (I wish BP would pay me in potato skins for my shameless promotion).You tell others when you've enjoyed something. You want them to share the enjoyment, but you can't do it for them. They must taste for themselves.
And that brings me to the verse I read that got me thinking about all this.
Oh taste and see that the LORD is good,
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalm 34:8
Taste. It's one of the more intimate senses. It requires direct contact and is an internal and personal experience. Is our response to the Lord like my Oma's reaction to the butter or my response to the potato skins? (Really, our reaction should be exceedingly greater, because God is exceedingly greater than any perishable food item). How beautiful it is that God is not just some distant figure in the sky with a list of dos and do-nots. He wants us to know Him and enjoy Him!
And furthermore, when we have tasted of His goodness, we can see it too. Once we've tasted that the Lord is good personally, we can look at our circumstances and see God's hand at work. And even in the moments where we do not see His hand, we can trust that He is still there and up to something marvelous because we have tasted of His goodness and known Him. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Christian friends, when was the last time
...our delight in Him was written all over our faces?
...we told God more than once how good He is?
...we shared with someone about Jesus because we so wanted them to share in the joy?
Non-Christian friends, when was the last time you saw that in someone who indentified with the label "Christian"? I'm sorry if that has not been your typical experience and I pray you will come to know Christ as He really is and what life with Him is really like. Though Christ-followers are not perfect, and the road at times is hard, I want you to know that dullness is not real Christianity.
Non-Christian friends, when was the last time you saw that in someone who indentified with the label "Christian"? I'm sorry if that has not been your typical experience and I pray you will come to know Christ as He really is and what life with Him is really like. Though Christ-followers are not perfect, and the road at times is hard, I want you to know that dullness is not real Christianity.
I want to be a woman who intimately knows Christ. One who can't hide how good He is and that others would see that something wonderful has happened and would want to taste for themselves. One that daily comes before the Lord just to be in His presence. One that can face the trials that will inevitably come because I have tasted His goodness and know I can trust Him.
And what's lovely is that He wants us to know Him like that.
John 6:35
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."
