0 Taste and See!

By Renny Acheampong, Denmark

You may not believe this, but I have never tasted sushi in my life! I was once at an Asian restaurant and being the picky eater I was, I ordered my usual fare. My sister, however, had some sushi and encouraged me to try. I immediately refused. There was no way I was eating raw fish with rice! My sister then asked me to taste something on her fork that looked greenish like guacamole. I immediately frowned with disgust. Guess what? It was wasabi . . . yes, WASABI! Henceforth, my dislike for sushi grew stronger. You see, some people enjoy eating sushi with wasabi. They like the unique taste.

In the same way, have you ever wondered why some people have an unexplainable desire for the Lord? They spend long hours in His Word and in prayer; they yearn to obey Him. The answer is found in Psalm 34:8 (ESV). They have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

Speaker and author Priscilla Shirer puts it like this: “Once you start experiencing God for real, you are ruined for everything else.” How true that is!

Do you want to grow in your relationship with the Lord? Or maybe you feel there is nothing about the Lord and His kingdom that attracts you to know Him deeper. Well, my friend, taste and see that the Lord is good. John 15:10-11 exhorts us: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (esv).

Many Christians are not living the abundant life the Lord promised simply because they have refused to live according to the Lord’s will for their lives. If you want your Christian life to be fulfilling and bearing fruit, and if you want to enjoy true peace and joy amidst difficult circumstances, stay faithful to the Lord and His commandments. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can fill you with “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). He is so amazing and infinite that no amount of time is sufficient to get enough of Him.

My prayer for the New Year is that I will grow deeper in my love and knowledge of Him, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” –Philippians 3:10-11. How about you? What are your faith goals this year?