Oh Taste and See

If you've ever had a savory and appetizing meal you know how difficult it is to settle for its substitute. It's hard to outdo the Chic-Fil-A chicken sandwich. There are people who swear by the Brazilian steaks of Fogo de Chao. Pick your choice of cuisine; Italian, Mexican, Japanese, or seafood restaurants. Replicas, knock-offs, and generic brands will never match the flavor of such insatiable desire.

So what do you do when your appetite is using your stomach as a punch bag for a savory meal?

Remember the children of Israel starving in the wilderness during the exodus and God showed up and fed them manna from heaven (Exodus 16)? How about the Hebrew boys that chose vegetables and water instead of the king's choice foods (Daniel 1)? Or that time Jesus attended the wedding feast and turned water into wine (John 2)? Who could forget when Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish (John 6)?

Just taking a glance at those stories, here's what I realized; God used ordinary people in ordinary places to do extraordinary miracles to provide hope and reason to simply taste His goodness.

"O taste and see that the Lord is good." This passage in Psalm 34:8 describes the essence of tasting true life that can only be found by faith in Him alone.

In Him we find pleasure for He is good. In Him we find protection for He is our refuge. In Him we find provision for there is no want. In Him we find peace for He calms our fear of lack. In Him we find promise for He will remain faithful.

Our greatest satisfaction in Jesus will only come when our deepest desperation is for Him. If Jesus is one of many treasures, He will really be no treasure at all. We often try to remedy the tastes of our desires in life with generic substitutes. Jesus will not allow Himself to be one of many ways to satisfy the longings of our soul.

Passing the taste-test of Jesus is to see that in Him we will not be found wanting. Tasting Jesus will fuse our God-given desires to His all-satisfying goodness of grace. If you're jumping from one substitute to the next looking for what will completely satisfy your thirst, look no further than Jesus Christ. He's been tried and found to be true. He's trustworthy and to be treasured above all others. "O taste and see that the Lord is good!"