Taste and See

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

When Jesus has something important to teach, He normally repeats Himself. He gives us so many different illustrations of His identity and how we are to put our trust in Him. One major lesson that has been on my mind for many months now is the concept of abiding in Him. Just as Jesus is in the Father and the Father in Him, we are to be one with the trinity. When God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit fuse within us we can become like Him and reflect His glory. When we are "born again," Christ gives us His righteousness through imputation. The way we carry out His will is through the power of His Holy Spirit, who also teaches us the thoughts of God's holy ways. Just as in a marriage the two become one flesh, we as the church are to become one in the spirit. It's pretty gnarly when we try to comprehend all of that. lol

Spiritual growth, (aka Sanctification) has a lot to do with consistency. In the same way, physical and mental growth have a lot to do with consistency. Have you ever played a sport or ran a mile when being completely out of shape? Imagine if Olympic athletes just showed up to their track meet without any consistent training or preparation. Imagine having to perform a musical concert without any practice or rehearsal. Ever been spiritually exhausted? Well, it's usually because we haven't been very consistent with exercising our spiritual relationship with God. In order to achieve and develop a stronger spiritual growth in Christ, we must become committed, determined and devoted. This fiery passion will result in an extreme want and desire for more of Him. If we really claim to love God as the first priority in our life, should we not be investing quality time with our Lord? When we least feel like praying and spending time with God, that's the time we need Him most.

Why does Jesus almost always speak in parables, riddles, and illustrations? It becomes puzzling to try and understand what He often means. Even for His day the people had a difficult time interpreting His words. But it was clear that no one ever spoke like Jesus did. People were not only astonished by His works of healing and countless miracles, but were intrigued and bewildered by how He spoke. One reason Jesus did this was to hide these mysteries from those who did not bother to seek Him. He speaks in such strange words to draw people to Him. In the parable of the sower, He gives a short talk about scattering seeds to a crowd of thousands, and yet He quickly ends with "He who has ears, let him hear." I imagined that many people left disappointed with hearing such a short and confusing parable. Those that we're actually interested in what He said went after Him and tried to receive understanding of what He meant.

Christ didn't need to spit in mud to make the blind man see. But He commanded the man to go wash His eyes in the water. This allows the man to respond in faith. First of all, no one would like having mud in their eyes, so just allowing Jesus to do that would take some faith, and then to blinding walk to the water also demonstrated this man's faith in the words of Jesus. The reason Jesus doesn't always do things straight forward is so that we can have an opportunity to respond in trusting Him.

Why does Jesus often conceal His identity and tell people not to reveal who He is? Wasn't Jesus trying to gain as many followers as He could? Jesus could have easily declared that He was the Messiah, and in fact He often does in various ways. But the reason He doesn't just tell everyone "Hey guys I'm the Messiah, the Savior of this world." Is because He purposely wants us to individually discover who He really is. In a sense, He wants us to develop a faith in His identity and in His promises.

THE BREAD OF LIFE
__________________
"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."-John 6:27-40

Isn't it interesting how Jesus displays His identity as the bread of life? In the time of Moses the people relied on manna from God, and in the same way we are to rely on Christ as our source of strength and life. Him being the bread of life is more important than ordinary food. He is all that you need to sustain and satisfy you. He says to eat and drink from Him, and demonstrates the communion with Him at the last supper. I also find it interesting that in John 4:34, Jesus says "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." When we come to the source of life daily, His will abides in us. Our food and our source of life is in Christ alone.

BEHOLD THE LAMB

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away
Slain for us, and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross
So we share in this bread of life
And we drink of his sacrifice
And we'll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King

The body of our savior Jesus Christ
Torn for you, eat and remember
The wounds that heal,
The death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one
So we share in this bread of life
And we drink of his sacrifice
And we'll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King