Taste and see...

Speaking at church on Sunday morning, I resurrected an old illustration that we used to use fifteen years ago in South Africa: I told people about my "money saving tip" of using pet food instead of normal mince or beef when making spaghetti sauce or stew. And to demonstrate how delicious it is, I opened a tin of cat food and proceeded to eat a few spoonfuls right there in the church. A few volunteers came forward to taste it for themselves, while the majority held back with disgusted expressions on their faces. So those who tasted for themselves were the only ones who discovered the truth: that this the brown mixture in the tin wasn't really cat food, but was a mixture I had made myself from Mars bars and jelly!! The label on the tin was a lie... but those who refused to try it for themselves missed out on a rather tasty dessert. The Bible tells us to "taste and see that God is good." (Psalm 34 vs 8) Some people never experience the goodness of God, because they believe some lie or stereotype instead of "tasting" and finding out for themselves what God is like. My goal on Sunday morning was to challenge people to leave their stereotypes behind, and to find out for themselves what it's like to know Jesus personally in 2012.