Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
PSALM 34:8
Imagine you have been invited to a dinner party. You are excited by this invitation because you love the host and all those included on the guest list, plus the host hinted that the menu will be especially delectable. The night finally arrives and you ring the doorbell, hungry and excited about the evening ahead. The host answers with a warm greeting. After some small talk with the other guests, he escorts you all into the dining room. The table is exquisitely set, and by the looks of each place setting, it will likely be a multicourse meal. By now, you are famished. After seating everyone and saying a dinner blessing, the host passes out a recipe card. “Here is our first course,” he proudly states. As he reads through the list of ingredients and preparation methods, everyone makes approving comments. Some even suggest ways to improve on the dish. After quite some time, he passes out a recipe for the second course. The process repeats. Before you know it, the night is completely over, and the guests have reviewed and thoroughly discussed the recipes for each course. But no one has tasted a single morsel of food. The host stands up and thanks you for coming, and everyone graciously makes their way to the door.
Would you enjoy this dinner party? Probably not. Yet this is often how we experience our spiritual meals. We can cram a lifetime of knowledge about God, Jesus, and the Bible into our heads, sort of like the recipes at a dinner party. But do we really know Him? Have we tasted the food? Is it good? Scripture makes it clear that God’s deepest desire for us is to know Him and to continually grow in our knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17–18). Paul counted everything else as garbage in comparison to knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:8). In the midst of losing everything and suffering excruciating physical pain, Job decided he would rather know God than to know the reason he suffered (Job 42:5–6). Peter concluded that when we know Him, we have everything we need (2 Peter 1:2–3).
From the very beginning, God planned for us to know Him. We were created to be in a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe! The Lord walked with Adam and Eve in paradise until their disobedience allowed sin to enter the world and He banished them from His presence. From that point on, generations of people repeatedly turned their hearts away from God to follow their sinful nature, even though He extended mercy countless times. He was so committed to restoring what Satan stole in the garden that He sent His Son to make things right. Jesus not only came to heal the sick and set the captives free (Luke 4:18); He came to live once again in relationship with us. This relationship doesn’t start when our mortal bodies die and we enter eternal life. We can be saved but relationally distant. We can have “head” knowledge without “heart” knowledge.
Jesus said Peter knew He was the Messiah because he had learned it from His Father in heaven, and not another human being (Matthew 16:17). He made it clear that Peter had “heart” knowledge of this fact. The teachers of religious law were experts in the scriptures. They had head knowledge and knew all the three-hundred-plus prophecies that foretold Jesus’ coming, but they never recognized Him. Their head knowledge never made the trip eighteen inches downward into their hearts.
Heart knowledge is the key to knowing God. You don’t just read or hear about Him as you would a good recipe. You taste Him. You savor Him. He satisfies your hunger. He nourishes your soul. Knowing Him keeps you strong so you can counter anything the enemy throws at you, including illness. The Spirit of God began communicating with the spirit He placed inside of you the moment you first believed. Whether written or spoken, you know His words are true, giving you real answers to real-world problems. Spirit to spirit. His heart to yours. Loving you, guiding you, protecting you. Because He is good. Taste and see.
Jesus, I know in my head that You loved me so much You died for me. I know You have the power to heal and restore me. But I want more, Lord! I want to experience Your love, though it is too great for me to fully understand. Complete me, Lord, with all the fullness of life and power that only comes from You (Ephesians 3:19). Please show me all You want to be for me and show me especially in this season of healing.
Lord, give me a deep, insatiable hunger to know You. I want to know Your nature. I want to know Your heart. I want to know what You think, how You feel, and how You feel about me. I want to personally experience Your goodness! Help me to taste You and know firsthand that You are good.