Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
When it comes to food, are you sweet or savory? Which do you prefer? If you have family members or people around you, find out which they are. I'm sure you probably already know. With my wife and three daughters, I think all of them would say their go-to is sweet. Mine is savory. I could eat chips all day long—salty. But I have to say, if you have one of those things, that taste and flavor where when you eat it you just want to sit there with your eyes closed and enjoy the moment—you don't want anything else coming in to change that flavor. For me, that's a good steak. I could just sit there, eyes closed, savoring that flavor for a really, really long time.
But what is that for you? What is the thing that you could just savor in your mouth and you don't want it to stop because you enjoy it that much? Well, I'd love for you to capture that feeling—that sensation, that remembrance and recollection—as we study today's Verse of the Day.
It comes from Psalm chapter 34, verse 8. "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!"
Someone Else's Experience
When it comes to a food’s taste and flavor, have you ever had somebody describe something they ate and they're trying to encourage you to try it? They describe it, your mouth is watering, it sounds so incredibly good, but no matter how you imagine it or picture it, it's still somebody else's experience that they're describing. Part of what I want to focus on with this verse today is that we can tend to do that with our faith. God wants you to truly experience Him—to be able to say to those around you, oh my goodness, the goodness of God is so powerful, so amazing in my life, I want you to taste it for yourself. The Bible is full of descriptions of God—His love, His grace, His strength, His power. But oftentimes we can only experience that through the way other people describe it.
The Same Dish, a Different Taste
Have you ever ordered the same dish at a different place, anticipating that same wonderful taste—and it's just completely different from what you remembered? You taste it and think, this is not what I remember. This is not the taste I wanted. A lot of times, when it comes to our faith, this is what this verse is talking about. We allow other people to serve up their faith, their relationship with God, their experiences with God. It can differ and vary between people, and sometimes you can actually get a bad taste in your mouth because you're only receiving how someone else is serving up the Lord to you.
Taste It for Yourself
I want to encourage you to truly experience God the way this author is describing it—taste and see that the Lord is good for yourself. The beauty of this is experiencing God in whole new ways, coming to understand His grace and His love firsthand. Because if you just continue to taste things the way other people serve them up, you'll never truly experience the raw, amazing flavor of the goodness of our God. You can experience it and close your eyes and smile and have joy and rejoice in having truly experienced God for yourself.
I'm telling you, this is one of my biggest concerns about where we're at today. We can so often receive this flavor of God, this experience of God, from so many different other places. When someone else is not necessarily serving what God is truly all about, we can allow that to affect our relationship with God and our perception of Him. The taste in our mouth that we think is about God and our faith becomes tainted with someone else's experience.
I would just encourage you—truly take time to find ways today, even outside of what I'm sharing with you, to experience the love, the joy, and the peace that God has to offer. Savor that flavor of God and truly allow His presence to be something that you reflect on. Then look at the people around you and say, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good—and encourage them to taste and experience that flavor of God for themselves. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
