Wednesday, April 05, 2023

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

(click to listen)

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

“You must have a lot of faith to believe in God like you do.”  

Actually, I don’t think I have all that much faith.  Think of it like this.

Last night I was working in the yard, pulling weeds and picking up sticks.  Suddenly it dawned on me that I was really thirsty.  Thankfully I had prepared a nice cup of ice water before I went out to work.  So I went and took a big drink and it was so refreshing!

How much faith did it take to drink that water?  Not much because I have had many great experiences of drinking cool, refreshing water when I was thirsty!

That pretty much describes my faith in God.  In the early days I would read something in the Bible or hear something from another Christian and I would try to put it into practice.  I would also hear things from the Holy Spirit, and I would put those things into practice.

It didn’t even take all that much faith in those early days because I would hear something and try it.  

For example, I read in the Bible that we are to forgive people, so I started forgiving people.  It didn’t take a New York minute to realize, “Hey, this is refreshing!”

So how much faith did it take the next time I needed to forgive?  Hardly any!  I had already tasted and seen that forgiveness is a great way to live.

The other day we had a bunch of grandchildren at the house.  They were running around and playing, and then my wife pulled out a beautiful, fresh watermelon.  The kids stopped in their tracks and flocked to the watermelon.  Why?  Because they had already tasted and seen that cool watermelon on a hot Florida day is wonderful!

See, it doesn’t take all that much faith to trust an experience you’ve already had a good experience with.  And that describes my walk with God. 

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”

I HAVE tasted, and I HAVE seen that the Lord is good, over and over!

So while it may look on the outside like, “Gee, that Doug Apple has a lot of faith,” I would say no, not really.  I have just tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and after that it doesn’t take much faith to keep walking with Him, knowing that even more good things are on the way!

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.


No comments: