The scripture from Psalm 34:8 has been in the back of my mind for months now. “Taste and see that the Lord is good….” (ESV). I also love how The Passion Translation words it: “Drink deeply of the pleasures of God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies he gives to all who turn to hide themselves in him.”
Drink deeply of the pleasures of God……wow.
What does that even look like?
I have had glimpses of this truth, as I’m sure we all have, but I believe that I have only just slightly begun to scratch the surface of what it actually means to feast upon His Presence.
I cooked a Cajun delicacy for my friend a few months ago. Fortunately, even while living in Australia, this little Cajun girl has a Daddy who still lives in South Louisiana and is able to ship all of my favorite local seasonings to me. My friend had always wanted to try chicken and sausage gumbo, so we used my special home-grown seasonings and she got to have a true, authentic gumbo. She tried to make one herself later, without the true seasonings that I had used, and it just didn’t taste the same.
She said she’s tried several local restaurants around the Brisbane area and she felt slightly disappointed each time because her pallet was ruined for anything other than the TRUE and AUTHENTIC taste. My Dad sent her some of her own seasoning recently, and she happily is now able to make the real deal for herself.
The Lord used this to remind me of His Presence. The purity and authenticity of going deep with Him is something that CANNOT be “unseen” or “untasted.” What a person experiences in the depths of the Father’s heart cannot be explained away, nor can it be understood at times. And it cannot be conjured up by anything counterfeit!
Being able to drink deeply of the pleasures of God is the one, true thing that exists, and everything else pales in comparison.
Likewise, when a person truly SEES God, the eyes of their hearts are fully opened. God’s Presence and His heart are imprinted upon a person’s memories, and upon the internal screen of the mind. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that when I look at Him, without the veil (thanks to Jesus), I can reflect Him like a mirror. I get to go from glory to glory as I gaze at His reflection and see myself IN Christ, and Christ IN me.
This is something that I can’t unsee, and therefore becomes something that I am most aware of. It overflows out of me.
As Bill Johnson says, “We always reflect the nature of the world we are most aware of.”
To be most aware of Christ in me and me in Him, drinking deeply of the pleasures of God – tasting and seeing – is the only way. I can’t untaste, and I can’t unsee what I’ve seen and experienced. It ruins ME…it changes me forever. And I know that there is so much more!
— Mandy Woodhouse
Restored People Community 