Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."¹

"Back when Beth and I lived in Altadena, California," writes Pastor Tod Bolsinger, "just down the street from us was a bakery called 'Patticakes.' It was one of those amazing places where everything looks as good as it tastes and virtually every breakfast item included chocolate. But make no mistake, nothing there was cheap. Everything was delicious, beautiful and frightfully expensive.

"I remember sitting there one morning eating a chocolate muffin and drinking a latte while a young couple came in to get a quote for a wedding cake. The owner pulled out a book that featured articles from Bon Appetite praising her wedding cakes, showed them spectacular professional photographs of cakes she had made in the past, and then finally the price sheet.

"I watched this all and smiled. The bride was looking at the groom pleadingly. Her face saying, 'Honey, wouldn't this be beautiful? This is exactly the kind of wedding cake I have always wanted.' He looked like he was choking. Being a guy, I know what he was thinking as he looked at that price sheet, 'A cake? How about a killer big screen TV? It's about the same amount of money.' But he was a smart boy; he kept his mouth shut, even as he tried to calculate how many months’ salary would be gobbled down by people in less than 15 minutes.

"And right at the very moment when the unspoken tension was the highest, the bakery owner appeared with a tray of assorted pieces of wedding cake that they could sample. Two bites later, eyes rolled back in his head in chocolate induced ecstasy, the cheapskate groom was ordering this cake for everyone he had ever met.

"You see the difference was in the tasting. Once we taste what we really want, the cost is not the issue."²

How equally true this is with God. When we come to him through Jesus Christ, confess our sins to him, and ask for his forgiveness, we can truly taste and see how good God really is.

As David, the Psalmist, wrote, "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record. I said to myself, 'I will confess them [my sins] to the Lord.' And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone."³

Dear reader, if you have never tasted the goodness of God, I urge you to come to him today, confess your sins to him, ask for his forgiveness, and invite God's Son, Jesus Christ, into your heart and life. For help, please read the article, "How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian," and you, too, can experience the same relief and peace that David tasted. It’s at www.actsweb.org/christian.

Again, as David said, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man [and woman] who takes refuge in him."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, how can I ever thank you enough for giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in my place so all my sins can be forgiven, and so I can receive your gift of eternal life to be with you in Heaven forever. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Psalm 34:8 (NIV).
2. Tod Bolsinger, Tod Bolsinger's Blog, "It Takes a Church," http://bolsinger.blogs.com.
3. Psalm 32:1-2, 5 (TLB)(NLT).

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