A couple of months ago, my family took my brother to Cracker Barrel for the first time.
Like many restaurants, it has a theme that goes along with the taste of their food. The decorations, some of the dishware, the little triangle game and checkers, and even the attached general store all encourage the same southern, old-fashion, comfort themes that the food does.
Why do restaurants do this? Why do people go out to eat and love food? It all comes down to the experience of tasting something. Just like a smell, a taste can bring back memories or let you learn something new. However, with tasting, we often get the chance to choose what we put into our mouths and experience.
Maybe, some of us are great at smelling good. At church or the grocery store or out to eat, we act kind and humble. This is good! However, if what people experience, when they're trying to connect with us, is different - then it's not so good.
God doesn't just want us to be externally loving and gentle. He doesn't want our external theme to not be in sync with who we are on the inside. God calls and transforms us to internally be like Jesus.
Someone who is eating food that smells good but tastes bad, is going to figure it out the first time they really experience tasting it.
Maybe, you think this sounds kind of creepy, and yeah, it probably is. Yet, it's true that as we get to know someone, go through hardships and celebrations together, we get to experience who they truly are on the inside. And, as we let others experience us, it could lead them to experiencing Jesus. That's the best experience ever.
Experiencing something is kind of like tasting it, and we get the chance to shape what people experience as they get to know us.
David and Peter shared about what truly experiencing God is like. They said that its like tasting an amazing food, that when we experience God we find that He is good. David encourages the reader to experience God, and shares that He’s a shelter and a provider. Whereas Peter prompts those who’ve experienced the Lord’s goodness to stop poisoning themselves with sin, and to instead crave more for the things of God. Also, the words of God have been recorded as tasting good as well. We can’t taste as good as God. However, we can lead others to experience God by tasting even a little bit like Him – since He does live in us, His Word, and kind of like a lemon.
Four tips to tasting more like a lemon are: First, be energizing. Jeremiah shared that tasting God’s Word gave him joy and delight. We can inspire others by living out and sharing Bible verses. Second, be refreshing. David talked about how God’s values and commands are refreshing to the soul because they are perfect, trustworthy, radiant, and rich. Living the way God calls us can refresh those around us that’ve become burdened by the immorality of the world. Third, add some sweetness. In Psalms 119, the words of God are compared to honey’s sweetness. Let’s add some grace into our words, some gentleness into our actions, some compassion into our motives, and some mercy into our thoughts. Fourth, add a bit of sour. Paul uses salt as his metaphor; however, the main idea is to include intelligence into how we taste. We must be mindful that when we’re being energizing, refreshing, and sweet that we don’t neglect the truths and wisdom of the Bible, even if it creates some discomfort.
Here’s how not to be like a lemon: Make people want to avoid Jesus – Part of creation’s job is to reveal who God really is and to draw people to Him. Taste the way you want to – Just as God directs the stars and the oceans and they obey, be someone who tastes the way that God has called you to. Be tasteless – This helps no one and, since you’re hiding the flavors of who God is, it will lead to a joyless life.
God’s Guidance:
Psalms 34:8-9 (NIV) – “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.”
1 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV) – “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 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.”
Jeremiah 15:15-16 (NIV) – “Lord, you understand; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering—do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.”
Psalms 19:7-10 (NIV) – “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.”
Psalms 119:103 (NIV) – “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV) – “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
Romans 1:20 (NIV) – “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Psalms 8:3-4 (NIV) – “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
Psalms 19:1-6 (NIV) – “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”
Amos 5:8 (NIV) – “He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the Lord is his name.”
Job 6:6-7 (NIV) – “Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.”
Application:
1. Be energizing to others by supporting them and sharing motivating scripture passages with them
2. Be refreshing to others by praying for and with them and sharing God’s promises with them
3. Be sweet and, at times, a little sour by showing compassion, grace, and the truth of the Bible
Strength Point:
Sharing momentum, refreshment, and sweetness with others, while being governed by the truths of the Bible, can lead others to experiencing the pure goodness of God.
Song of the Week:
Reflection Question:
What do people experience as they get to know you?
Prayer Prompt:
Hi Jesus! Thank You for letting me experience even just a little bit of who You are. I’ve tasted and found that You are good! I’m sorry for choosing to put sin in my mouth and tasting it. Even though it sometimes tasted and smelled good in that moment, it made me feel sick and unsatisfied in the end. I’m also sorry for not letting others experience who I truly am in You. I pray that You would strengthen me and give me the endurance to not just smell good to those around me, but to share a sweet, refreshing, and __ experience to everybody I’m connecting with as well. Open up opportunities to allow the right people to get know me, guide me to and through them, my God. Thank You for saving me from the poisonous sin I’ve eaten and, sadly, will eat. You are the only thing that satisfies my hungering soul. I love You, Lord! In Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.
A Prayer to Pray over Others:
Hi Jesus! Thank You for letting us experience even just a little bit of who You are. So many of us have tasted and found that You are good! Help my friend to choose to not put sin in their mouth and taste it. Even though it sometimes tastes and smells good in the moment, we know that it’ll make us feel sick and unsatisfied in the end. Lead my friend to let others experience who they truly are in You. I pray that You would strengthen them and give them the endurance to not just smell good to those around my friend, but to share a sweet, refreshing, and joyful experience to everybody they’re connecting with as well. Open up opportunities to allow the right people to get know them, guide my friend to and through them, my God. Thank You for being willing to save us from the poisonous sin we’ve eaten and, sadly, will eat. You are the only thing that satisfies our hungering soul. I love You, Lord! In Your Name, Jesus, I pray, amen.
To all the mothers, especially my own, I hope this past Sunday and every other day made you feel loved and supported. Whether you are a: mother, grandma, great grandma, foster mom, adopted mom, single mom, spiritual mom, fur mamma, mentor mom, stay-at-home mom, working mom, mom that has experienced loss, mom that has experienced infertility issues.
We give you support. We give you honor. We give you love. We give you respect. We give you gratitude. We pray for you.
Remember to share with the women in your life the blossoms from the seeds they planted in your life.
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