Saturday, August 15, 2015

taste and see

Today's readings: Nehemiah 9:22-10:39, 1 Cor 9:19-10:13, Psalm 34:1-10, Prov 21:13

The readings today work together to tell us one central theme: God goes out of His way to show us how much He cares about us. He is an unrequited lover, seeking our love. Amazing, isn't it?

In the OT reading, the story shows how God, over and over, forgives us and feeds us and takes care of us, even though we repeatedly, over and over, disobey and complain and turn our backs on Him. In the NT, Paul tells us how God fed the Israelites spiritual food and drink, giving them manna and water from the rock (which, he points out, represents the flesh of Christ and water from the "Rock", which was also a picture of Christ).

And then the Psalm puts it into words for us: Taste and see. While it's better "to believe without seeing", God gives us the privilege of tasting and seeing how good He is. He offers for us to come and experience Him, and to see with our own eyes, and taste with our own mouths, how good He is. How much He loves us. How He puts His Spirit into us, to actually HELP us to do the right thing, to WANT to do the right thing.

He does everything in His power (which is everything) to give us all we need to live eternally happy with Him. All we have to do is "Taste and See."

God, thank You for reaching out to us, continually, patiently, kindly, gently... pulling us into Your embrace.