Taste and See!

There are some Bible verses that never get old to me. Psalm 34:8 is one of those. I have been meditating on it lately and every time that I chew it over, it brings a smile to my face.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him…Psalm 34:8

I just love it. It says to taste. What comes to mind when you think of tasting. I may tell you about my favorite meal. One of the foods I have enjoyed since childhood is fried plantains. I love fried plantains. Those who know me well know that I cannot resist a good, ripe, and rightly cooked fried plantain meal.

I remember in my college days, my mom, knowing that I loved fried plantains, will keep the ones that she had for me. She rarely ate them herself but she would buy them for me. She would then call me when they were so ripe, they were on the verge of going bad. For those who watch their sugar intake, this may not be the best idea for you. You see, by now, the plantain is as ripe as it will ever get. Any more ripeness, and it’s death to the plantain.

Mom would then call me and tell me to come over and get my plantains before they went bad. Other times, she would cook them up with some rice or fish or something else she knew that I liked. That was one excuse to go home weekend after weekend.

Now if I tried to describe the taste to you, you can only use your imagination if you’ve never had fried ripe plantain. It’s sweet, it’s succulent, it’s even better (for me at least), when the edges are just a bit chewy! However good my descriptions may be, NOTHING beats taking a bite of the plantains yourself and tasting it!

Wow! The bursting of fresh, new tastes hitting your tastebuds at the same time. The sweetness that had been trapped inside the plantain exploding in your mouth. The succulent bite of the chunky middle and the perfect chewiness of the edges. Okay, so I am aware that some of you may taste it and not like it. But my point still stands, tasting beats being told!

Well, King David, in Psalm 34:8 is inviting you and I to not just hear about God’s goodness, but to step out and taste of it. He wants you to experience God for yourself. You may have heard about God at Sunday school when you were a kid. You may have heard about Jesus on your college campus. You may even know a lot about him from attending church or from reading your bible casually. But today, I challenge you to take a further step with God. Taste! Experience him for yourself. Talk to him, listen to him, dare to believe the things that he promises in his word, let him love you.

Taste and see that the Lord is good!