ARE YOU TASTING YOUR FOOD?

Scripture says, Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8) 

Some food is good for you but tasteless. However, there is plenty of healthy, beneficial food to eat that is also pleasing to the taste buds. Have you ever been eating a meal and the food is doing it's job of re-energizing you, strengthening you, and providing nutrients to your body and mind - when all the sudden you chew a really great tasting bite of whatever you're having? This is the same with eating the Lord or tasting the Lord and seeing that He is good. 

In this Psalm, David encourages us to not only digest that the LORD is good ("see that the LORD is good") but he also challenges us to "taste". There is an "and" between "taste" and "see" that helps us observe this distinction. You sit down with His Word, start reading it, studying and researching it, knowing that it is doing you good and will do you good in the future - when all of the sudden you read and understand a passage in a new applicable way that excites you (the great tasting bite). This is tasting of the Lord. 

Jesus went one step further and said if you want life - physical life (Greek=zoe) and spiritual life/breath (Greek=psuche) you will daily eat of my flesh and drink of my blood (John 6:41-58). As Jesus was speaking to the crowd that followed Him they became confused at His words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. At first take it sounded like Jesus was the leader of a cannibalistic cult. However, Christ said that "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53). Salvation was for all humanity, this eating was for the many believers that would accept Him as Lord and Savior through the years. Sitting down to this meal periodically provides true life. Jesus said, Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57) I believe salvation is assumed here and "feeds" implies an active, re-occurring event that exposes the believer to a tasting of His Word and seeing that He is good.

Tasting of God's Word and the enjoyment or excitement it brings comes in many different forms and at different times in our lives. Tasting or enjoying the Lord not only happens in quiet times with Him, but is also heard and sung from a song, spoken in a poem, interpreted in dance, skit, or drama. Just like there are several ways for us to receive, taste and enjoy our food - soft, liquid, mashed, crunchy, etc - the Word of God is for our tasting as well as for the nourishment of our bodies. Are You Tasting Your Food?