this is from the series "developing sensitivity to God".   read previous posts here and here and here and here and    here. Don't miss any of those to come. sign up for all of   the inspiration, right to your inbox!

There is a festival each year near where I live called “The Taste of Royal Oak”. All of the local restaurants, bistros and sweet shops in the area participate by setting up tents and offering a ‘taste’ of their most delectable foods, drinks or sweets. It is such a fun day spent, trying out all of the delicacies from each of the different tents, and voting on which is our favorite.  Sometimes there are things that we wouldn’t even consider ordering, or for that matter eating, but in the parameters of the festival – all is fair game! Often some of those “absolutely nots”, turn into, “this is really good”! And then the restaurant that made it, turns into a dinner destination. We need to know how good something is in order to want more…and what better way than to taste it. Sometimes in order to appreciate something, or to know how much we will like it, we have to try it: we must taste and see. David says in Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is good”. This is a warm invitation to give God a try,

And walk in obedience to His leading. Often we don’t know what we are missing until we have ‘tasted’ His goodness and accepted His love. Here are some ways that you can ‘taste’ the goodness of God today:

• Read His love letter to you (the bible) – begin with the psalms if you are looking for something inspirational. The psalms are full of praises, mercy, love, comfort, and support. If you aren’t inspired by the psalms – you are missing something!
• Eat something fresh – The food that we often eat each day has become something completely different that it was created to be. Try eating something fresh from the garden or farmers market. Savor the flavors as God intended them to be. Become a green food lover! There is nothing better than eating a green bean right off the plant, raw. As a matter of fact, I used to get scolded as a child for eating all of the beans from our garden as they ripened, for it left the dinner short of beans – oops!
• Have a barbeque – I think we talked about this last time, our sense of smell is directly related to how we taste. The cooking bacon in the kitchen or the kabobs on the barbie, taste just as amazing as they smell! We have been given a gift in appreciating the things that nourish our bodies.

Recently I tried to give a taste of ice cream to my grandson. Apparently he has never had this before (bad gramma) and no matter how hard I tried I could not get him to lick the cone; until it happened to touch his lips. He stopped for just a minute – and then snatched the cone right from my hands, burying his face deep into the cold, creamy dessert. It took but a taste of something that he had been refusing in order to know that it was good. How often do people say that they don’t have time to pray, or don’t have time to read the bible, or even don’t have time to go to church on Sunday? Have they even tasted what God has in store for those who seek Him.  But we can’t do it half way. He says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Seek Him with all your Heart! Not part way. Not occasionally. Not only on Sunday. Not only when you pray to get yourself out of a jamm. In everything you do.

…when you seek Him with all your heart.

 for:

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” (Matthew 6:21)

Taste and see what He is like Give others of taste of what God has done for you, let them see the joy that he can bring to their lives.   The sense of taste is experiential. It is an act – and when we taste what God has to offer, it increases our experience of Him, deepening that relationship as well as giving us experiences that we can draw upon and trust.  Through trust our faith will grow, leading us to deeper experiences and sweeter tastes. Give GOD a taste today. Experience what He has to offer you beyond what you already know.  As you seek Him, He will give you sweeter and sweeter tastes, until you are snatching at first sight of its evidence. Taste and see that God is good.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Lisa