Taste and See
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” (Psalms34:8)
Good morning, Fam. This is two Saturdays in a row that the Vessel Training Co. has posted a powerful verse, and prompted their community with a thought-provoking question that led me to want to sit down and expand on what they offered. The verse above was their daily offering of scripture. The creators of the app gave a beautiful breakdown of this verse: writing how King David was explaining that followers of God needed to do more than just read the Bible, memorize verses, go to Church on Sunday mornings. Followers of God and Jesus needed to EXPERIENCE them in their life. Taste and see. Taste the true good life. See God’s work and wonder all around you every day. Appreciate creation and the blessings in your life. Pause to praise God for all the good He does, as we know that all good things come from our Holy Father.
The question of the day was this: “What’s something you think everyone should experience at least once in their life?” What a great question. Reading the communities’ answers just now brought tears to my eyes. I had to share three experiences in my response, and I want to share those with you all and expand on my explanation of each.
My top experience everyone should have at least once in their life is to have children. This is truly the greatest blessing God has given us. To be part of the creation of a new life. Now let me preface this with, children are also the greatest responsibility we hold. We are raising a person that could either become a blessing in this world, or a curse to mankind. Having children should be taken as the most important calling we have as human beings. You need to be ready to support the children you are bringing into this world. The initial act of conception is easy. We were all designed to do this. God is the one who has designed the process after that. Our first born was an unplanned blessing in my wife and I’s life. We were living in sin and had not planned on having children, at least not at that time. But God had better plans for us and since our oldest daughter arrived, it has completely changed my life. I will NEVER forget the first time I held her and the first night with her in the hospital, holding this tiny little person swaddled on my knee. This completely innocent baby that God had gifted us with to love and raise as His Child. Her birth gave me the opportunity to read the Bible cover-to-cover for the first time and that was the fire that ignited in my heart and soul to pursue this website and do everything I can to bring people to experience the same life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.
The second experience I listed was snow skiing/snowboarding in the Colorado Rockies. Or any mountain range around the world. To me, there is no greater recreational activity that any healthy adult can do to put themselves face-to-face with God’s glory. Standing on top of a mountain and realizing that there is only way down and trusting God’s protection and your own abilities is still the most exhilarating and rewarding activity I have ever done. I should also preface that with the perspective of what I have also experienced in my life: skydiving, scuba diving, white-water rafting, water skiing, and mountain biking in the Appalachian Mountains. So not an extensive list by comparison, but those are the competitors to skiing in the Rockies.
My third experience was Poland. And I have to preface that with the fact that I am not an extensive world traveler. I have been to Newfoundland, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Afghanistan (during which, my exploration was limited to the missions we had for the US Army). During my deployment to Poland, I fell in absolute love with that country. It was the cleanest, safest, and one of the most beautiful places on earth. And they are true followers of Jesus. They are still a country that observes the Christian Sabbath (Sunday). They are a country that fights for God’s creation of Earth (there are solar panels on almost every house and windmills through every open space). And their people are accurate representatives of walking with Christ. I recommend everyone, if you have the financial means, to pay a visit to that special Eastern Europe country and see what a true Christian country looks like.
We all have different experiences experiencing God. I hope reading this post causes you to pause and think about all the amazing work God has done/is doing in your life. Thank you for reading. I pray you get out this weekend, taste and see the wonder, miracle, and unending grace of God. Blessings to you all. And if you need some new music to be the soundtrack for your weekend, Tauren Wells new album is one I would highly recommend.
