Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Now is the time.... To Do the Taste Test


Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in him. Psalm 34:8

The makers of our much-maligned Vegemite have come up with something new; it has been in the stores with no name; the company has been running a competition for someone to come up with a name for it. That’s one way to get people to buy and try! I would have thought that one would have to taste it to come up with some enticing, tasty name but in this day of technology it seems not. The name that won the competition was – you’d never guess it – iSnack 2.0. Since that time there were so many people that objected that it is under review which is good because that name conveys absolutely nothing to me except that if I want to know what it’s like I have to taste it. So it is with God. We have to 'taste' him and his presence to know that he is good.

David, a young lad who went from singing praises to God in the sheepfolds to giant-slayer on the battlefield to king of Israel to ousted monarch and back to the throne again, experienced God in so many different situations. He knew the highs of life but he also knew what it was like to be in the depths of despair. It is he who wrote about the goodness of God to those who trust him. In the midst of singing the praises of his God he cries out “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good”. It was as if he was saying “I can’t really tell you just how good he is, you just have to taste his goodness for yourself”.

How do we taste anything? We have to put it in our mouth and try it. We can’t do that with God of course but we can get to know what kind of a God we have by coming near to him, allowing him to have a say in our lives. By allowing him permission to come and forgive our sins, heal us of our hurts, our sickness; allowing him to give us guidance in our daily lives. We taste him by walking in obedience to his Word and following his way and finding out that it is the best way, the way to life in all its fullness (John 10:10).

Today I needed to ‘taste’ God afresh. For me that meant becoming still in his presence and allowing myself to feel him again. We were worshipping in church and many people were being touched by his spirit, but I felt a little apart from him. That is when I deliberately moved closer, received again his forgiveness and love. He met me.

It’s so easy in the busyness of our world to become a little hardened to his presence unless we make a special effort. We can ‘do Christianity’, we can ‘do church’, but he wants us to move closer so we can feel that refreshing breath of his beautiful presence. Yes, taste and see that the Lord, in all his fullness, is definitely good.

Prayer: Lord thank you that you are close to me even when I can’t feel you. Help me to realise when I need to make that special move towards you and taste again that you are good. Amen

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