Taste The Flavor

1st Peter 2:2-3

Are you aware that as much as 75 percent of what we perceive as taste comes from our sense of smell, and this doesn't only pertain to what we drink, but what we eat as well? Odor molecules from our food or drink travel through our sinuses to our olfactory receptor cells in our nasal cavity. From there a signal is sent to our brain where we are told what the food tastes like. This is why if you have a cold, or if you pinch your nose while you're eating, your food will begin to taste bland and flavorless. Still, while smell may be the major contributor to taste, taste itself plays only a small part in our overall eating and drinking experience. Temperatures, textures, colors, and even presentation all contribute to how much we enjoy our food or drink. For example, a cold slice of pizza pulled from a dirty grease stained box, which was sitting on your counter from the night before, will not be nearly as pleasant as a hot slice from a sizzling deep pan, which was pulled from a stone oven and delivered fresh to your table. Again, a burger from a drive through window, eaten in the front seat of your car as you drive down the road alone, will not have the same taste and experience as one pulled from the grill in your backyard in the company of family and friends. It is a proven fact that the more of our senses we use when we eat, the more we enjoy our food. It is the deference between feeding and feasting, and is what separates a meal from a banquet. This is no different with our walk with God. The fish and the loaves that Jesus fed to the 5000 were for their physical needs, but the fruits of the Spirit, and the feasts of heaven, go beyond the needs of the flesh. The life they bring is spiritual, full of blessings and satisfaction. Unfortunately, this is not where I found myself as a young Christian. On the contrary, I never understood why I wasn't getting more out of church, or my Christian walk. I was eating the meat of God's word, but never tasting His blessings. I was sustaining, yet never living, because I was only experiencing Him on Sunday morning. As I began to grow I began to experience God through more and more facets of my everyday life. I experienced Him in my daily readings; I experienced Him through my fellowships, through my speech, my actions, and most importantly my prayers. The more of my life I opened up to Him the more I began to experience His blessings in ways I never thought possible. I began to see that God's blessings are a feast magnificently displayed before us. They are inviting, and hospitable, as if to say "Welcome to the feast… Here you will find more than food; here you will find a banquet steeped in satisfaction. This is why the Psalmist urged, "Taste and see that the Lord is Good (Psalm 34:8)." Even Peter encouraged his readers, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:2-3)." Peter's audience has already experienced God from all their senses. They have taken Him in and enjoyed the flavors of His blessing. They have experienced Him in their walk, in their fellowships, in their prayers, in their studies, and throughout every facet of their life. Now, having tasted and seen that the Lord is truly good, Peter encourages them, in spite of their hard times and persecutions, to continue in their spiritual growth by craving after God like new born babes crave after their mother's milk. Long for it, cry for it, and make a joyful noise for it, as if it were required for your daily survival; and that it is. Now, Ask yourself, have you come to the banquet to be fed, or to feast; is time in His word nothing more than a flavorless routine, done out of some misconceived obligation for your spiritual life? If so, stop, breathe it in, taste it, live it. Let it rest upon the palate of your heart as you experience God through all your senses, and in every area of your life. Then, after you have savored the fruits of the feast, lean back onto His bosom, rest in His fulfillment, and you will taste and see that the Lord is truly good. Your new life with God is a feast, live every day and taste the flavor.   [mp]

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Michael D'Urbano
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