Psalm 34:8 – Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (NIV)

Psalm 119:103 – How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (NIV)

I walked into my favourite supermarket to find a good friend handing out samples of papaya, which she was promoting. This is something I've avoided all my life, insisting that I did not like it. My friend spotted me right away and motioned for me to come her way. There was no way to avoid sampling the fresh fruit she was advertising. I bravely accepted the small piece of papaya and braced myself for the strong, sour taste I was anticipating. To my surprise, the fruit was sweet and delicious to the taste. I asked for a second piece, as I stood listening to her tell of its wonderful nutritive values and how it could be used in the daily diet.

Later, as I thought about my experience, it reminded me how much it was like our experience in coming to Christ. When we are standing at a distance viewing the lives of our Christian friends, they seem strange. When we actually taste or experience the Christian life for ourselves, we find it to be pleasant to the taste, and we like it. As we come to know the Good Shepherd Who gave His life for us and Who is the foundation and goodness within His church, and we realize that He loves us, we want more. We find the taste that we've been avoiding to be good.

Before we come to know Christ, we feed upon the taste of the world. In conversion, we are given a new taste and begin to feed upon the grace and goodness of God. We find the taste is good and our bodies are nourished by it. We find our spirit wanting more and more of this tasteful and nutritional food we've found.

Prayer: Lord, we thank You for Your bread of life and for allowing us to feed upon it. Amen.

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