Psalm 34:8 (NLT)
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Anytime this verse comes to mind, Thomas does as well. Just a name to you. But to me…
During my time at the Arms of Mercy, I've witnessed the hands and feet of Jesus constantly. There are times, however, I remember so vividly that they play over and over again. One such occasion was when Thomas came through the program. Thomas came to us by way of a hospital where he’d been dropped off after overdosing. When thrown out like trash, his only worldly possession was the boxer shorts he was wearing. In his time with us, he welcomed Jesus into relationship, snagged a job and an apartment. Finally, as he was about to graduate and move on, he escorted me to the back of the shelter where he flung the door open to show me our largest donation to date. Piles of clothes, furniture, and kitchen supplies greeted me. Christmas trees with decorations, golf clubs, and television sets. Everything to stock his dwelling for years to come. With tears in his eyes, he shouted (and I do mean shouted!), “TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD!”
Naturally, my thoughts went to the gifts GOD had bestowed upon him. Seeing such in my expression, Thomas taught me an eternal lesson. “Not taste and see that His gifts are good…but taste and see that the LORD GOD is good!”
From that moment, I wanted to see and savor Jesus the way Thomas does. To see GOD not with physical eyes through his gifts (as good as those can be also). But spiritually seeing the beauty of GOD. Alone. Sovereign. The glory. And not only to see it but to savor it. To desire nothing in this life but He. And let my love for everyone and everything else trickle from that truth.
