Remember the days when your children were small and you just could not get them to try the green beans or the squash or the rice and chicken? The mealtimes when you encouraged and begged and demanded that they eat the food set before them? If you haven’t parented children,
I’m fairly confident you have witnessed the following scenario.

Mom or Dad has a child-sized spoon with just a small amount of new food on it. The small child looks at the new ugly orange or green substance and turn up their nose. They have zero intention of eating that stuff. Mom sweetly encourages them and moves the spoon closer to their mouth. Up comes the toddler hand, swats said spoon and down to the floor it goes.

Not to be defeated, Mom speaks quietly to the child. The spoon is rinsed off and refilled with food. This time an angry child turns the head from side to side, eyes tightly shut, screams and cries. It would take a vise to open that mouth and get food in. This new exotic cuisine will not be eaten today.

When our children became a little older, we had the 3-bite rule. If a new food was placed before them, the requirement was to try three bites. They didn’t need to be huge bites, but they had to be a real effort. Many arguments and fights were avoided by the “3-bite rule”.

The underlying hope was that the children would be willing to taste new foods. I always thought they might miss a food that would have been their favorite or at least one they would enjoy. If they never taste the new food, how would they ever know? How would they know if a food was one they would enjoy or prefer or if the new food was one they could not tolerate? There is no way to KNOW unless they TASTE.

Psalm 34:8 says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.”

It doesn’t say, “Sit down and eat two huge bowls.” It doesn’t say, “ Eat so much you get sick.”
The Word says, “Taste.” Just try it.

Think of the person who tries a new food. They hesitate. Consider. Decide. Go for it. They really like it. Their eyes light up. A smile comes to their face. They are happy to have found this new wonderful food. Relief and satisfaction and even pleasure fill their faces. What joy at this new discovery…and all it took was one taste.

A taste is all that’s needed. Once you have “tasted” the goodness, the forgiveness, the healing, the love…that one taste tells you. This is the One I need. Here is what I’ve been searching for. This “food” will satisfy that empty place in me that only He can fill.

The requirement is to “Taste and see”.