Have you ever tried eating just one chip especially if it is a flavour that you really enjoy? I have, and it is near impossible. Perhaps if you lock them away or can’t get back to them, but one chip makes you want one more, then another and another until you are satisfied. Or have you ever tried just one bite of sweet, delicious fudge. As it’s melting in your mouth and you savor the flavour, it makes you want ‘just one more bite’. Oops, the whole slice is gone! How about your favorite cookies sitting in front of you calling out your name? Maybe you’ll just take one… whoa, the plate’s almost empty… perhaps you should stop?
That first taste of a food we enjoy gives us just enough of a tease and makes us want to have more. It is part of our human nature to want more of a good thing. That is why it is difficult to stop at just one piece or one bite. The desire to have more of that good taste is too strong to resist. Here is a scripture that I haven’t thought of for a while:
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Ps. 34:8
Since we know we are not literally taking a chunk out of the Lord to eat, the figurative meaning of taste is to perceive. (Webster’s: To know; to understand; to observe. To be affected by; to receive impressions from.) Basically, a little knowledge, understanding or time in the Lord’s presence is like having just a taste of Him. When we do that we ‘see’ that He is good, ‘tasty’, sweet, ‘flavourful’, and it makes us want more and more of Him until we are satisfied. I’m not quite sure that can ever happen here on earth; at least that is my personal experience. I am always left wanting more.
I like what one writer said about Ps. 34:8. He said we are not trying the food to determine if we like or dislike it. We are trying it to find out just how good it really is and see- realize we want more of it. The Lord is always waiting for us to be with Him, to spend time with Him. That can mean reading His Word, praying, worshiping, talking to Him and listening to Him throughout our day. Taste and see the Lord is good.
Okay, now let’s be practical. We all have limited time and, well, we are tired with all the other things we have to do in life so generally we vegetate in down times. So practically, how do we increase time, ‘tasting’ the Lord?
Here are a few ideas: Keep a Bible/ devotional/ Daily Bread in the washroom and by the couch where you watch tv. (Commercials are boring anyway). Drives to work or shopping can become times of worship, listening to the Word on cd, or prayer and listening for His voice. Have more conversations with others about the Lord. (Ever think of the percentage of time we actually speak with others about Him as opposed to other topics?) Enter His presence wherever and whenever you can. (Maybe some day I’ll figure out how to explain that one, but that’s a whole other entry.)
O taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is VERY good!