Taste and See
This devotional was written by Jim Burns
O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!—Psalm 34:8 RSV
One of my favorite storytellers is Dr. Tony Campolo. I love how he tells the story of Blondin, the tightrope-walker who in the 1890's strung a tightrope across the Niagara Falls.
Before ten thousand screaming people he inched his way from the Canadian side of the falls to the United States side. When he got there the crowd began shouting his name: "Blondin! Blondin! Blondin! Blondin!"
Finally he raised his arms, quieted the crowd, and (how's this for an ego trip?) shouted to them, "I am Blondin! Do you believe in me?" The crowd shouted back, "We believe! We believe! We believe!"
Again he quieted the crowd, and once more he shouted to them, "I'm going back across the tightrope, but this time I'm going to carry someone on my back. Do you believe I can do that?" The crowd yelled, "We believe! We believe!"
He quieted them one more time, and then he said, "Who will be that person?" The crowd went dead. Nothing.
Finally, out of the crowd stepped one man. He climbed on Blondin's shoulders, and for the next three-and-a-half-hours, Blondin inched his way back across the tightrope to the Canadian side of the falls.
The point of the story is blatantly clear: Ten thousand people stood there that day chanting, "We believe, we believe!" but only one person really believed. Believing is not just saying, "I accept the fact." Believing is giving your life over into the hands of the one in whom you say you believe.*
Christ calls you to step out of your comfort zone and walk with Him. Stepping out on faith means that you don't know all that is going to happen but you are putting your trust in Someone who does. Putting your trust with Jesus is not always the comfortable way to go. The risk you take is that God knows what He is doing better than you know what you are doing. History and common sense tell me to put my faith in the infinite Creator and Savior of the universe rather than in unstable me. Are you ready to take another step in the direction of faith. Then accept God's challenge to "taste and see".
GOING DEEPER:
1. Psalm 34:8 tells us that we must take action and make the effort to find out how good the Lord is. Have you ever truly taken refuge in Him?
2. What are you doing right now in your life that could not be done without the super natural power of Christ? Those who live their lives in touch with Jesus are not afraid to step out of their comfort zone and into the realm of faith.
FURTHER READING:
1 Peter 2:3, Psalm 2:12
* Tony Campolo, You Can Make a Difference (Waco: Word, 1984), p. 14.
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