"So Bad I Can Taste It"

Psalm 34:8 (NIV)  Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

            There is a scene near the end of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King where Frodo and Sam have accomplished their great quest of destroying the enemy’s evil ring. They have found a high place as lava from the erupting mountain flows around them. Sam is thinking about the food of home. They’ve had virtually nothing to eat for days and their physical strength is completely spent. Frodo is not so sure they will ever make it out of their predicament and get back home, which seems so distant in his mind that he can barely picture it. He doesn’t remember how good things tasted, and might taste again. So many times on their journey they had both longed for the culinary delights of their homes in the Shire.

            A good deal of my own memory associates with food in some way: my mom’s cooking, family meals at my grandmother’s house on holidays, what and where Joanne and I ate on so many wonderful occasions in our lives together, her mom’s mammoth meals in their small apartment in Brooklyn, the “steak” we had at the hospital the night after Brianne was born… the list of memories is way too large to choose from. Most of those memories connect us with people we have loved and known. When I remember the food I remember the person, and vice versa. I’m glad for this association, for when I remember I have a certain longing to be with the person again. When I think of them it leads me to thanksgiving to God for their place and impact in my life. I think of the goodness of knowing them, being influenced by them, being loved and loving. And I don’t just hunger for a taste of the food one more time. I hunger for the presence of the ones I miss.

            I stayed up late last night to watch the national championship game between Villanova and North Carolina. It was a great game with a spectacular last second finish. If you had asked any of those athletes before the game how badly they wanted to win, you probably would have heard at least one of them say something like, “I want to win it so bad I can taste it.” Anyone who has ever longed for something deeply enough understands that statement. It reflects a hunger and a desire for something that is so great that in your imagination you can experience how wonderful it will be when it happens.

            May our hunger and thirst for the Lord be the greatest hunger and thirst in our lives. It will be the only one – when met – that truly satisfies us.

Psalm 107:8-9 (NIV) ⁸  Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, ⁹  for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalm 119:103 (NIV)  How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Psalm 34:10 (KJV)  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV) ¹  As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. ²  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Psalm 63:1-2 (NIV) ¹  O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. ²  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Matthew 5:6 (NIV)  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Revelation 7:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶  Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. ¹⁷  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

PRAYER:  Father, your love is steadfast and magnificent – even beyond the glories of Creation. You’re justice and wisdom exceed the greatness of mountains and oceans. And you are gentle and caring. Your constant love is of greater value than crown jewels, more precious than all the treasuries of earth. You are our protector and defender. You feed us with blessings from your own table and we drink from your rivers of delight. Thank you for making known to me the path of life, for filling me with joy in your presence, and for the eternal pleasures you give from your right hand. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott