“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)
We pulled into a packed parking lot and looked for a slot. This particular turnpike stop had an eye-catching fruit stand out front. The salesperson encouraged me as she held out a plate of samples, “Take a taste; they’re so juicy!”
I didn’t need much pressuring. They looked beautiful, now for the taste test. They were as delicious as they were pretty to look at.
We bought a bag, and opened them as soon as we got back on the highway. Peeling off the skin, separating the sections of the orange, I ate a piece still attached to the peel. The fruit was seedless and sweet, but the inside of the peel was bitter. The acrid taste lingered.
The bible verse popped into my mind, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34). Then another, “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4), because even the elect (believers) can be deceived (See Matthew 24).
Just because something is a ‘good thing’ doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a ‘God thing.’ In addition to choices between good and not good, there are sometimes choices between good, better, and best. Thankfully we don’t have to determine this just on intuition; Holy Spirit guides us.
That is good news.
Inspirational Messages, Sally I. Kennedy 2014