Friday, January 01, 2010

TASTE TEST

"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalms 34:8

I don't know about you, but I love to taste food. Food can look really good, but the litmus test is how does it taste? After you taste it then you will really know if it is truly good. In the very same way God wants us to "taste" Him.

What does that mean? Well, I think of it this way... many people say they know God and are Christians, but they have not 'tasted' Him. What I mean is... they have not taken what He has to offer and applied it in their lives. We can hear all about Him, read all about Him, but we need to take Him in - put what he has to offer us into use - then we will know how good He really is - not how good we hear He is.

We are told in Proverbs that honey is sweet to the taste (24:13), in Psalm 119:103 we are told that His word is sweeter than honey to the mouth. God gave us our sense of taste so that we can fully appreciate food and enjoy the bounty food has to offer us. When we are struggling and down or even rejoicing - we often use food to comfort and celebrate. God wants us to taste him, to use Him when we struggling or when we are celebrating the blessings of life - just like we taste food for satisfaction.

As I write this my staff has just made some Kettle corn. I can tell you it smells good - but until I get up and go get some and taste it... I will not know for myself what it is like. We cannot experience God's fullness just by hearing it or smelling it or listening to others opinions - we need to try Him for ourselves and it is when we do that - that we will know that He is good.

Maybe right now instead of making some sweet treat or some comfort food you need to get alone with God and 'taste' what He has to offer you at this time. What He has is far greater than the temporary experience of food. In Song of Solomon 2:4b we read "I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Have you sat down under His tree and savored His flavor?

Once you have tasted Him and put your trust in Him it will become evident in your life that His fruit is sweeter than anything you have tasted from a human perspective. I don't know about you, but I have tasted some pretty fine foods, and they don't compare to the pleasure we can find in Him.

Next time you are enjoying a fine meal or treat and you are thinking... my how good this tastes... remember that God tells us that He is even better. Savor HIM!! Join me at His banquet table.

LDJ

No comments: