This morning I woke up with the scripture 1 Peter 2:3 in my mind. I had no idea what it says, so I had to go look it up... again, Peter, mid-sentence, adds in this little beauty " if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
Let's just think about that, firstly he's talking to new believers because the next verse says "desire pure milk of the word", so why would it be relevant to everyone, well, in my humble opinion, we can't graduate to 'mature' believer, until we've been through the training ground of 'new' believer. So, here Peter is saying something that can be read as, "if you have tasted the Lord's goodnes (which every new believer has, or they wouldn't be believers), then start to desire the pure milk of the word, don't pollute it with anything else." which, granted is probably his meaning here... but, I submit to you that it could also mean, "If you have tasted the goodness of God? Then mark it down take stock, not only a mental note, but sit down and record for future generations, the goodness of God over your life, their lives... think about it, how will they know the goodness of God over their lives if we don't spend time documenting it and making clearly laid out for them, when and where God stepped into their impossible, our impossible, the impossible of the people around us, if we don't write it down, talk about it, make it a normal part of conversation in life."
Perhaps, when we slow down today, as it is the day of rest and we reflect over the past week, month, year, we can spend some time declaring His goodness to our families, friends and everyone we come into contact with... we can share the way He has shaped us...
Think of the many things He has orchestrated in our lives and how we have been changed by the fact that He cares for us...
Some verses related to this verse because of keywords in the verses that link them:
One we love, but we, at times, neglect to state the second part: Psalm 34:8 - "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" When we've tasted and seen that He is good, we should know that Blessed is the man who trusts in Him... one results in the other... when we stop and smell the roses, we take time, we take stock, we write it down and discuss it with our loved ones, we see that wait a minute, because I love God and He loves me, I am blessed...
Titus 3:4;6 "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared," "whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,"
You see God has generous poured out the love of God our Saviour towards us, you can put your name in there...
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward Asnée appeared, whom (Jesus was poured out on Calvary) He poured out on Asnée abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
can you believe it, it's almost too much for me to take in, God wants me to read His word like this, "My God, great powerful, mighty, all-powerful God poured out His kindness towards me and also the love of Jesus (our God and Saviour) towards me, Asnée, appeared, so He wants to appear in my life, He wants to be real, visible, tangible ( I can touch Him), He (Jesus), poured it out on me abundantly through Jesus Christ my Saviour"... this is mind blowing to me...
God wants to reach me, He wants to be tangible to me, He wants to be real and come into my life and make a difference in a real world, feelly, touchy, manner, actually make a difference and change circumstances, situations, obstacles, problem relationships, He wants to reach in and see them change.
The word taste - is a word that means: (Ref: Strong's #1089) "to eat, partake of, feel, experience." Interestingly, it is used both naturally and metaphorically.
So, you can taste, a physical change is measured and interpreted when God gets involved in your circumstances, when God reaches down to come into your everyday life and bring about His changes... I feel like someone is saying, what if they're changes I don't like or want... well, firstly they are changes you like and want, cos guess what, the maker of the universe breathed life into you and He gave you the DNA, your make up, is from Him, so not only does He know what you love best, He knows the things you're gonna love more and He knows which things can hurt us and derail us from His perfect plan for our lives... and if you doubt that, then you'll have to go and do a study on aligning your heart with His... He made the universe and everything in it and wants to give you abundantly above what you can imagine or dream of (Eph 3:20), but you have to believe Him, that He has and knows the best for you, otherwise you will always doubt... nothing wrong with that, but we have to grow from there... Just say, Lord, I want to believe you,help my unbelief (read the story of this father Mark 9:23-25, it will help you see Jesus' grace for our unbelief, even if it's a split second of doubt, there's no condemnation, we just have to nip it in the bud)
This is my favourite! WHOW, wait for this one... let Holy Spirit align your heart... it's that good
It has nothing to do with us... I always see this as such a safety net, when the Lord says, I got this, you relax, I'm taking it from here, you sit back and relax... check this one out...
Mat 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." - I love that that is the end of the chapter... haha... He has got it... we don't have to have everything in a row, neatly worked out, He has got it! I remember a time when I just started my first blog, I think in about 2018, there was a group of moms and I at the school my kids were at and the little saying we had was, as long as all your ducks are in the same pond, they don't all have to be in a row... to give each other some grace...
What is Jesus saying here - straight from the mouth of our Saviour to the weight on our shoulders:
definition of easy: chrestos (oh my word when I saw the correlation between this and the name of Jesus, Christos - wow, that's another story for another time, just note it, INCREDIBLE!) Ref: Strong's #5543 - "The word denotes that which is useful, pleasant, good, comfortable, suitable and serviceable." The legalistic religious system was a severe burden, but service to Jesus does not chafe, because it fits well and is built on personal relationship with God by the indwelling Holy Spirit - comment taken from my Bible study notes, my Bible, this one is NKJV Spirit-filled Life Bible)
Let's put this into context, Jesus is saying to us my yoke, which we know as the figurative weight of His religious rules and regulations, is easy and my burden, which we know as His religious rules and regulations as a Rabbi, teacher of the word.
As your Rabbi, teacher, leader, Saviour, I am inviting you into a relationship where the severity and harsh abrasiveness of the past is lifted and comes into a relationship where the weight of my rules and regulations are no longer hard to bare, they are light, useful, pleasant, comfortable, suitable to each of you and serviceable, you are able to accomplish them. And as the notes in my Bible say, through our relationship with the Holy Spirit this is made possible.
So, in conclusion, let's go back in our minds and even ask Holy Spirit to remind us, what is it that I need to stop and say thank You for, rely on Him, He will remind you those prayers, big and small you prayed, you perhaps thought you'd never see an answer for and now you have it, in front of you, stop and thank Him, in Jesus' name, to God be all the glory, great things He has done!
