Discover the Truth - by Learning to Trust!

Many years ago I was trained at University as a scientist. My degree was in chemistry. Chemistry taught me to analyse carefully the substances I was working with and to test things out one step at a time. When I was doing research we learnt to analyse, test and, having discovered something, to re-test it again and again to see if the experimental results were repeatable. And if they were we could then begin to depend on what had been discovered as a fact and not just a theory. That is how all the great discoveries of science were made, proved and then used for the benefit of mankind.

Our scripture for today encourages us to have a similar approach to discovering the truth about God. When you taste something, you don’t take a big mouthful and swallow it without thinking - you put a tiny bit on your tongue and test it. Then, if it tastes good, you eat it. And if there are no unwelcome side-effects you then remember that this particular food is good to eat at any time. You don’t need to test it any more - you know what it’s like.

I recently gave some of my favourite tropical fruit, papaya, to a friend. He had never tried papaya before. He tasted a small amount and discovered how good it was to eat. He was discovering that what I had told him about papaya was true. By trusting what I had said, he discovered the joys of soaking the papaya flesh with lemon juice, followed by a coating of sugar. He loved it!

Similarly, when we listen carefully to what God has said to us in His word and then test it out in our lives, we will discover that those things God has prepared for us are ‘good to eat’, and that God’s Word really can be trusted. Because God is trustworthy, His Word can also be trusted. I find many people these days like the idea of believing in God, because He’s the one who can save them in eternity, but, sadly, they don’t trust him enough to believe His Word and put it into practice in their lives. As a result they never discover the joys of tasting the fruit of obedience and, eventually, many of them discover the consequences of disobedience instead.

An important key to learning is to trust what those who are trustworthy actually say, and then do what they do. God is trustworthy and if we follow in His ways we will discover the joys that His blessing upon our lives actually brings. Is it time for you to taste and see that God really is good!

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to trust what You have said in Your Word - and then to apply it in my life. I don’t want to discover the hard way that I’ve missed out on all Your blessings by not listening to what You say. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.