Taste and See.

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“Taste and see that the Lord is good….”  
Psalm 34:8a; New International Version

Adam and Eve tasted the forbidden fruit.  It looked good to eat, we are told.  Did it taste like death?  I’m guessing not.  Forbidden stuff often fools us into thinking we are enjoying ourselves.  The fruit itself was not death, after all.  Eating it brought death.

The elk in this picture made several attempts to reach the branch you see in its mouth.  About the fourth try, it was tasting the good stuff.  He knew it was worth the effort.  Experience taught him that, and maybe his mother in his youth!

It may seem odd to be invited to ‘taste the Lord’, but it is a common Biblical image for feasting on the Word of God’s promise and trusting in the Lord.  As part of his call to ministry, Ezekiel was invited to eat the scroll of the Word of the Lord.  It was like honey to him.  Peter refers to Psalm 34:8 in his first letter (I Peter 2:2).  What we feast on has changed, Peter says, now that we have tasted that the Lord is good.

The Word is in action in the Lord’s Supper.  There we can taste indeed that the Lord is good, as we share in the foretaste of the heavenly feast.  The Lord likes the image of eating and feasting.  The foretaste we share in the Eucharist is a reminder that God doesn’t want us to wait until heaven to enjoy life.  We taste and see that the Lord is good right here and right now.

Reach out today.  Reach up today.  Reach higher to the Word of the Lord.  Take it in, let your soul feast.  Taste, and see that the Lord is good indeed.  Then list some of your feast’s menu.  List the ways you taste today that the Lord is.  Then pray, praise and give thanks.

Text and Picture Copyright Donald Schatz