"Taste And See!"

"As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to the taste." (S.O.S. 2:3)

  "O, what needless pain we bare," was the thought that came to mine as I meditated upon this verse. And yet, I was reminded that our needless pain it actually good for us to realize; but in order to do so, we must experience it for ourselves, so that we know how needless it actually becomes. So, seeing is believing, as they say; but before you can see the benefit of faith, you must believe!
  I think this goes hand-in-hand with what was shared yesterday, that we must never forget how much God loves us. It must be a foregone conclusion; which means that no matter what, you have made up your mind that it is settled and no matter what anything else might say, the result can be predicted with certainty! Yes, Jesus loves me!
  There is a little message here that needs to be seen, regardless of your maturity or your status in the walk you currently have with the Lord. There is this point of pleasure to be expected; which, believe or not, is the engine that produces satisfaction and fulfillment. Not that we can't be surprised by what happens when we just show up, because anything is possible with God; but it means a whole lot more to us when we come expectant and hungry to be filled.
  Call it faith put to the test, if you will; but that is practically what God means when He says, "Taste and see," because in the case of being comforted and overwhelmed by His love, you will not see it for real until you actually taste it for yourself. No matter how much you read about it, or how much you are taught about it, it does not become reality until you actually experience it on your own.
  There is a movie that expresses this well, it is called, "Faith Like Potatoes." Set in South Africa, it shows one man's realization that faith is actually a substance; it can be held, and felt, and it is real! It is actually more real than the things we see around us, because it cannot be contained! It can't be sold, it can't be stored up, it can't even be shared; it must be lived out in our lives in order to be real...

"For Moses writes that the law's way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commandments. But faith's way of getting right with God says, "Don't say in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven ?' (to bring Christ down to earth). And don't say, 'Who will go down to the place of the dead?' (to bring Christ back to life again)." In fact, it says, "The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart." And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." (Romans 10:5-10) NLT