HERE! Taste This!

People are funny. We tend to do some very strange things. For example, when you taste something nasty, do you spit it out and throw it away? No. Most times we will hand it to someone else and say, “This is AWFUL! Here! Taste it.” And when something smells bad, do you leave? Not usually. Most times we’ll say, “OH THAT smells GROSE! Can you smell THAT???” And inevitably the person next to us will begin sniffing and trying to smell it too. WHY do we do that? If it tastes bad, or smells awful, why do want someone else to taste it and smell it to? We are just funny that way. I have even said before, when trying to describe a particular taste, “this tastes like the smell of something.” We call that a “stink-taste.” ☺

By God’s grace, I was born into a Christian home. My parents were saved as teenagers. They did share a few things about their young adult lives with us. Choices they wish they had not made, things they wish they could do over, in other words, they had a few regrets. Not many, praise the Lord, but a few. Thankfully, because of their teaching and training, there are many things that I have never tasted or even smelled! Subsequently, there are actual odors that I do not recognize. See, my parents did not feel that experience was always the best teacher. They never handed us something they knew would be bad for us and said, “Here, taste this or here, smell this!” In fact, they made sure that we knew that there would be severe consequences if we ever did! I can’t tell you what those consequences are because I took them at their word. I am not bragging on myself, I am bragging on my parents. They didn’t lead hard, riotous lives, but what little sin they had dabbled in, taught them enough to know to stay away from it. AND to keep their children from it too! They knew that worldly tastes and smells would leave bitterness in my mouth, or a stench in my nostrils, so they trained me to STAY AWAY from them. Instead they showed me “the way” that I should go. (Pro.22:6) They took me to church where I learned, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Ps.34:8) And at thirteen years old, I came to know Christ as Saviour. They read me His Word, and I found out, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps.119:103) They showed me by example, “Be ye followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.” (Eph.5:2)

When I left my parents home, as an adult, I had a choice. I could continue in “the way” that they had showed me, or do it “my way.” Proverbs 19:26 says, “He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.” Why would I want to waste my teacher or chase away my trainer? The very thought of it turns my stomach, as if I had eaten something that just didn’t sit right. 

How about you? What are you teaching your children, or those who follow you? Do you offer them those “sweets to the soul?” Or are have they just gotten used to having a certain "stink-taste?"

WHAT IS YOUR ISSUE?

Mark 5:25-34 “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

This woman had an “issue of blood” for twelve years. TWELVE years! I can’t even imagine that. Twelve years of going from doctor to doctor, with a problem of bleeding out, and NO ONE being able to help. The Bible says that she had “suffered many things of many physicians.” She was so desperate for relief that she was willing to try ANYTHING! She had spent all she had and was none the better for it. In fact, she grew worse everyday. Then, she heard about a man who had healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and possessed with devils. How he freed a maniac of the unclean spirit that controlled him. There was even a leper that ran about telling of how this man, Jesus, had healed him of his leprosy! She figured, “I have nothing to lose. Why not see what this man can do for me?” No, quite the contrary was her attitude. This woman was weary of her sickness, and desired greatly to be healed. She was desperate for relief. She was tired of searching for answers, only to walk away the same as when she came. There wasn’t ANYTHING she wanted more than to be rid of her “issue.” She sought Jesus out with a heart that said, “This HAS to work! I’ve heard the stories. He has healed others, please let him heal me!” Determined to find the One who could save her, she made her way through the crowd. At last! There he was! With a beggars heart she reached out to him but was able only to touch the hem of his garment. Relief was IMMEDIATE! As if a burdensome weight had been lifted from off her shoulders, her tired and weary body was…. healed. Not just healed, but whole. She had gone to her only hope for life, --- Jesus, and he had given her his strength, his very virtue! As his eyes met hers, she fell at his feet. With fear and in reverence of his miraculous power, she gave him her heart. No longer just another face in the crowd but “Daughter,” Jesus had called her, “thy faith hath made the whole; go in peace, and be whole of the plague.”

How often have we had an “issue” in our life that seemed never ending? Perhaps you’ve been wounded without cause and yet you cannot seem to release the resentment. Maybe you were injured without provocation and yet you cannot find relief. You’re hurt and heartbroken and the pain is just relentless. Or maybe you have an illness for which there seems to be no remedy. Your life is plagued with turmoil, and sorrow as you search for answers. You’ve tried everything, yet your condition remains the same. Search no further, my friend. Take your “issue” to Jesus. Reach out in faith and let him make you whole. Fall at his feet and find sweet relief. You don’t have to be just another face in the crowd. He will make you His own. 

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."