TASTE AND SEE

There will always be things we don't fully understand about God. That's just part of God being God and us being human but this should never prevent us from pursuing him. John Piper said in his book SEEING AND SAVORING JESUS CHRIST that believing in Jesus "is like seeing the sun and knowing it's light and not dark, or like tasting honey and knowing it's sweet and not sour." There's just something different about Jesus compared to everything else in the world. Every person in one way or another, at some point in their life, must make a decision about who they believe Jesus to be. He boldly claimed to be the son of God and "the way, the truth and the life" which makes him out to be either a crazy man or something really special. I agree with Mr. Piper that taking the time to look upon Jesus, what he said, and how he lived is the best approach to figuring out if he's really real.

Along similar lines, Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who trusts in him." There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing a taste test of God or seeing what it feels like to trust in Him. The gospel of Luke tells us there was a man named Zacchaeus who did just that. Zacchaeus was wealthy and had everything a man could ask for but he was looking for something more and climbed in a tree one day to catch a glimpse of Jesus walking by. Zacchaeus wasn't the greatest of guys, he was dishonest and a crook by trade but none of these things mattered to Jesus. The two men become great friends and Zacchaeus' life was forever changed because he took the time to taste and see what Jesus was all about.

Just as Zacchaeus had to climb a tree to learn more about Jesus, tasting for you and I requires some time and effort. In order to do this, one must be willing to examine the whole story of Jesus' life, really think about the things he said and also be brave enough to examine the depths of their own soul. Man coming to believe in God is a two-way street that involves both God showing himself to those who ask and us searching for him. Searching for God takes time and is rarely something that can be done overnight. To do this, one must commit to withholding judgment on the matter of belief until the complete picture of who Jesus is can be seen. This means that reading a few Bible verses or looking up Christianity online doesn't paint the full picture and that patience is required. Dismissing Jesus or the concept of God because of one reason or one unanswered question is not really searching at all, it's looking for an excuse not to believe. There's a difference. We often want a quick fix to our problems but the the decision to believe in Jesus is life changing and is one that should be considered carefully.

Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." -John 6:35

Will you take the chance to taste or re-taste what believing in Jesus is really like? I hope that for you, considering Christ will shed some light on the dark parts of our world and the darkness of the human heart and I hope that in a taste of what He's like you will find something sweeter and more satisfying than anything this world has to offer. Some of us have tasted before but need to do so again in a fresh, new way. We have forgotten the "abundant life" (John 10:10) and "rest for our souls" (Matthew 11:29) that only Jesus can give. Will you taste the sweetness of God and thank him for being so good today?

"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." -C.S. Lewis