Try it, You'll Like it! 

When I was a child, we used to go to my aunt’s house for Christmas.  She didn’t have children, so the only toy she had was a set of Lincoln Logs. We made do.  On the plus side, she always made a good meal, and for dessert served her special cheesecake.  The oohs and ahhs began as she carried it to the table.  My Dad, in particular, loved this confection.  I, on the other hand, was not convinced.  Every year he’d tell me how wonderful it was.  “Try some”, he’d say, “it tastes like ice cream”, or some other delicacy I could relate to. No matter how delightful he made it sound, I couldn’t get over the name, CHEESECAKE. The only cheese I was familiar with were those waxy slices my Mom sometimes bought, and I wasn’t crazy about them.  Why in the world would I want to consume a cake made of waxy cheese? But I always remembered my Dad’s words, “Try it, you’ll like it!”   Good news, I finally overcame my aversion.  Company Cheesecake is delicious, and low and behold, contains no waxy cheese!  As I look back, I wonder how long I avoided it, for the wrong reason.  Fast forward a bunch of years to when I was in college. My parents had relocated to another state, and had joined a church.  Not any church, but one where they toted Bibles and said Amen! Again, it was my Dad who asked me to try it. I hate to admit it, but I did the same thing with a relationship with God, as I did the cheesecake.  All I could remember of “church”, as a kid, was dull, stuffy and waxy like that yucky cheese.  Why in the world would I want to try that.  No thanks!

Nothing could that sound appealing, or so I thought.  My folks hadn’t been “religious” before, so what precipitated this drastic change? I chalked it up to a middle-age crisis, and hoped they would come to their senses, soon!  As it turned out, someone had approached them and asked them to try God, when they had been in a desperate place. Now they were a threat to my Sunday peace and quiet.  “Come with us today, you’ll like it”, they’d say.  What I wasn’t aware of was their fervent prayers for me.  Through a series of events, I was asked to sing at a church revival.  This was way out of my comfort zone, so you know it was a God thing when I said yes.  I couldn’t just leave when I had finished, so I sat, and “tried”.  Next thing you know, they served up a big ole’ piece of spiritual cheesecake. The flavor of His word was ambrosia to my hungry soul. I was wrong about cheesecake, and now I had been proven wrong about a tasteless God.  Have you ever felt that way about God?  Are you feeling that way now?  I can relate, and my prayer is for you to taste and see.  He’s way better than cheesecake, and no calories either!

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8