The Test of Taste

Ps 34:8 Taste and see that Jehovah is good; Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Jn 6:48 I am the bread of life.

Jn 6:57 As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.

Jn 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

When the Lord Jesus said, "I am the bread of life", He implies that He is edible and that we should eat Him to receive the divine and eternal life. This is quite contrary to the concept held by many Christians today when they think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, He is worthy of worship, praise, and thanksgiving. Yes, to Him we pray and petition. And we revere Him supremely. But, how about eating Him?

If John 6:57 was not in the Bible when Jesus said, "Eat Me" no one, even in his wildest dream, would even dare to think of eating Jesus. But the Bible plainly records Jesus telling us to eat Him. What a salvation to see this!

However, to eat the Lord Jesus, one must have a hunger for spiritual food. In the gospel of John chapter six, the Lord revealed Himself as the bread sent from heaven, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, the living bread, and the true bread, all referring to Himself as food to eat. The burden is clear, to eat Him. Without hunger for food, it is rather difficult to eat food. Similarly, without true hunger for the word of God, one cannot eat Jesus. 

In addition to hunger, there must be a taste for food. If one does not have a taste for Jesus, it will again be difficult to eat Jesus. This taste can be developed by faith. The more we hear about Jesus or read about Him, the more we will know Him, the more we will have revelation concerning Him, and the more the taste for Him will develop. Then, the hunger and taste for Jesus will drive one to eat Jesus.

While I was taking a personal training on this message on "The Bread of Life," I was very much impressed by this truth of eating Jesus. For which, hunger and taste are two crucial matters to eat Jesus and enjoy him as my daily spiritual food.

This also unveils a very important principle in eating. One eats what one enjoys, meaning having a taste for it. There are worldly and sinful foods too that many have the taste for and enjoy. So, the development of our spiritual taste for Jesus and His word is an antidote to the temptations of worldly taste and enjoyment. Moreover, the taste for Jesus as followed by eating Him should also be followed by nourishment with proper digestion to ultimately become our constitution. 

The question is, what taste do you have? For Jesus or something else? Your taste determines what you will eat and enjoy. This is the test of taste. 

May we have a revolutionary change in our taste. May our taste for Jesus grow sweeter and sweeter until all the taste for the world fades away. That we may only eat Jesus and enjoy Him every day. And live because of Him!

Lord, preserve our taste for You. Give us hunger for Your word that we may eat You every day as our bread of life and live because of You!