Funny thing about toast—when you smell it, you want it. Ever notice that?
I mean, there was a time when I would sooner eat dirt than toast, and I still can't deny its magical property of being appetizing in any and every context. It's just one of those things. Innately appealing, we need only to experience a whiff of it to crave it. Something in us just wants toast.
What if I told you that Jesus and toast have a lot in common?
See, the Word of God calls us to follow Jesus, but it doesn't ask us to do so without reason. It doesn't command us to commit to something that could be great or awful, guess we'll just have to find out. On the contrary, it encourages us to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8), to trust not only what the Word says of Jesus, but to experience his goodness for ourselves. With just a taste, we'll have every reason to believe that Jesus is exactly what we crave and that he will fill the hunger within us—a little like that magical whiff of toast.
I love that God makes Himself available for us to experience this way. I love that verse—Taste and see that the Lord is good—because it reminds me that He is not afraid of the challenges we bring to the table. He won't shy away from our needs, our varying tastes, our aversions, our special requests, our criticisms, our deep, gnawing hunger. He knows that His goodness is absolute. He knows that our deepest craving is for Him, whether we see it or not. He dares us to sample Him in sincerity and not be changed by His flavours of mercy and grace and justice and salvation and courage and power and purpose and love—so much wonderful, delicious love.
Taste and see that the Lord is good—and I mean way, way better than toast.