TASTE AND SEE

“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (Psalms 34:8). 

 

When I was very small and resistant to trying new foods (especially vegetables), my mother would say, “Just taste one bite, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.”  Usually she would have a fight getting me to try even one bite because I had already made up my mind that I didn’t like it.  Something about the color, or the texture, or just the way it laid on the plate would turn me against it.  As unsuccessful as my mom's method was, I still tried it with my own kids with similar results.  Once in a great while, though, they would actually take a taste and, lo and behold, they would like what they tried and want more. 

 

David tells us in Psalm 34, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”  One can never know just how good a thing is until they experience it for themselves.  We can try to express to others how sweet this relationship with Christ is; but until they are willing to take that first step toward Him, and begin to trust what He says, they will never know for sure.

 

In his book, Victory Through Surrender, E. Stanley Jones wrote of the difficulty in trying to prove the existence of God to someone who does not want to see.  He said it was like describing in detail the colors and radiance of a beautiful sunset to someone whose back is turned to it, and who refuses to believe your description of it.  You say, “Well, I’m looking at it right now – I can tell you everything about it – just turn around and look for yourself.”  No matter what we say about it, or how eloquently we describe it, if that person will not turn around and look for themselves, there is nothing we can say to make them believe us if they are determined not to.  Unfortunately, it is the same with our relationship with the Savior: we can try to describe the richness of our experience to others, but until they are ready to embrace it themselves, our words fall flat.

 

Jesus called us to be fishers of men.  As such, we need to know a little about what is attractive to fish!  You can’t just throw a line in the water with a hook on the end and expect to catch anything.  You need bait, or you need a lure.  You also need to be a student of what will attract a particular “fish”.  Our lives and the way that we live them, along with our words, are the bait.  They are what will initially draw the hungry fish to "taste and see."  It’s then that we need to pray for that soul and ask for the Holy Spirit to lead us as we speak to them.  One must be hungry to eat, and some fish are just not hungry right now.  If we are patient, they may be ready later.  Fishing is all about patience!

 

Jesus said, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.” (John 6:44).  In the end, it’s the Father’s business to draw men; but we are the ones that He will use to answer their questions, and speak the Words of Life in their ears.  We must always be ready, and always watchful, lest we become insensitive to the needs of others.  We can become so absorbed with our own lives that we miss the opportunities for ministry all around us.  We are told in 2 Timothy, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5).  It is up to us to help harvest the souls that are waiting to taste and see that Christ Jesus lives!

 

Everywhere – at work, at school, at the grocery store and about town, and even in our own home – people need to see Jesus.  They need to be drawn to Jesus by what they see and hear in us.  They need to get a taste of Jesus Christ and see how good He is.  Once they have tasted, they will know that there is nothing in the world that compares to Him!