The First Taste

 By: Joanne Viola

Sitting in the restaurant, we each ordered our food. Once the food arrived, while we each looked appreciatively at our own plates, her eyes roamed the table until she finally settled on one plate and said,

“That looks so interesting. What did you order? I would never have ordered that unless I first knew how it would taste.”

And we all knew what was coming, “May I take a taste?”

It was a scene which had been played out numerous times before, maybe even every time we were together. None of us minded but rather, it brought laughter as we all knew, she just could not resist.

As I reminisced about my friend, I remembered a few others who also just needed “a taste”:

• Eve ate the apple. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate …” (Genesis 3:6, NASB)
• Esau asked for a bowl of stew. “Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.”  …  “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way.” (Genesis 25: 30, 34, NASB)
• David saw Bathsheba. “Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.” … “David sent messengers and took her …” (2 Samuel 11: 2, 4, NASB)
• Judas eyed the silver. “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.” (Matthew 26: 14-16, NASB)

And lest we think, we don’t go for the taste …

• We take a bite of gossip. “The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.” (Proverbs 18:8, NASB)

Therein, lies the problem – that first taste.

May we be mindful of the first taste. What is it we are reaching for? Craving? Consuming? Taking into our inmost parts? May this be the only taste we desire:

“O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
(Psalm 34:8, NASB)

The first taste.
It makes all the difference.
Taste and See!

 

Reflection:
What do you find yourself craving or reaching for? How do you remind yourself to reach for Jesus above all else?

 

Photo by steph on Unsplash