TASTE AND SEE

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8)

I remember when I was going through the check-out lane at the grocery store when a young bagger asked me, “What is that?” He pointed to a bag of dates that I had just bought in bulk. To him, they looked like beetles! I told him what they were, but it didn’t do any good. He’d never heard of them before.

“What do they taste like?” he asked. Now that was a hard one to answer! They were sweet and creamy, but what did they taste like? At first I thought of raisins; they were another dried fruit. But no—they didn’t taste like that. Dates tasted like…well, like dates. How could I compare them with anything else? I finally decided I just couldn’t describe them. So I took one out and gave it to him, saying, “You just gotta taste it yourself!”

I think it’s like that with Jesus. You can’t really know how good He is until you’ve experienced His love. It’s hard to put into words exactly what He’s like. I could tell you how He’s answered my prayers or how He’s given me peace. I could tell you what my life was like before I ever got to know Him and then tell you what a difference He’s made. Maybe you’d be inspired. Maybe you’d understand what grace is all about. But it’s still not the same as experiencing it for yourself.

God wants us to know first-hand that His love is unstoppable, that He’ll always love us no matter what we do. He wants us to know He’ll be with us through every emergency in life. He’ll comfort us when our children leave home or when we say good-bye to a loved one taken from us in death. He’ll give us strength to say no to every temptation or to keep us going when our life is falling apart. He’ll be there to sustain us and hold our hand, saying, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

God wants us to know all that and much more. He wants us to know He means what He says. His word is rock-solid. It’s something we can always depend on. When He makes a promise, He aims to keep it. He’s eager to bless us in every possible way. And He wants us to know these things—not just because we’ve read them in a book, but because we’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

We know for ourselves that He’s faithful and true, He’s compassionate and merciful, kind and tender. He’s incredibly strong and yet understanding of all our weaknesses. He never gives up on us, no matter how many mistakes we’ve made. He’s such a true Friend and a caring Savior! And as I write these words, my heart is so full of ove for Him that tears are running down my cheek. But I know I’ve not described Him the way He truly is. How can I compare Him to anything else? He is like no one else!

And the only way you can see how good and wonderful He is—is to get to know Him yourself. It’s to test His promises and find they are true. It’s to let Him into your life and discover first-hand just how much He loves you.

“How shall we know for ourselves God’s goodness and His love? The psalmist tells us—not hear and know, read and know, or believe and know but—“Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8) Instead of relying upon the word of another, taste for yourself. Experience is knowledge derived from experiment. Experimental religion is what is needed now” (God’s Amazing Grace, pg. 252).

It’s especially needed if you want to be intimate with Jesus and to know “what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18,19).