It took me almost two months to read Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. I’m not a slow reader, but I couldn’t absorb this one more than a few pages at a time. It’s like Keller could read my crazy mind, shocking and scalding in the way he did that. Like too-hot hot chocolate that I needed to sip so I didn’t get too burned.
A couple days ago I read this:
“There is a difference between believing that God is holy and gracious, and having a new sense on the heart of
the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. The difference between believing that God is gracious and tasting that God is gracious is as different as having a rational belief that honey is sweet and having the actual sense of its sweetness.” (from a sermon by Jonathan Edwards)
Here’s my while-sipping-my-book-like-hot-chocolate revelation:
I think I spend more time talking about God rather than tasting the reality of Him.
In fact, I wonder how long I’ve been stuck in this place. It’s as if I believe things about God but have stopped short of actually tipping the bottle back and allowing His sweetness to drip down the back of my throat. There’s nothing wrong with talking and believing. But it’s the experience of the reality of God that builds unshakable faith that can weather the worst of what life throws.
How about you? Do you know all about the sweetness of God or have you actually tasted it?
(pic provided by nkzs, stock.xchng)
Wow, Michele, you are so right on. Once you have tasted, nothing else compares. My problem is I don't go back often enough for more.
Me too, Jerolyn. How easily I'm distracted or simply forget.
O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Psalm 34:8
Yes! Perfect verse. Thanks, Susan.
Dang. I gotta think about this one… Thanks for sharing that read with us. I think in a dream recently, i was praying and asking God to show Himself. Maybe my soul is trying to tell me something.
Hmmm … interesting. Yes, maybe so. Let me know when you find out!
Michelle, I have that book on my short list of to read this summer…I could so relate to what you wrote. I feel as is this is something God has been whispering to me for the last week or two. I have been listening to some sermons by Major Ian Thomas and one thing he said recently struck me, “How big is your tomorrow? As big as Jesus. What will you expect for tomorrow? What you can do for Jesus or what he can do in and through you? What will people around you see…you busy for Jesus or Jesus busy in and through you?” It seems like I have been busy for instead of tasting, lingering…
Chrystie, this book has punched me in the gut with some serious truth … and this coming from a girl who cut her teeth on stories like the Prodigal Son! I've heard this parable a million times, not to mention an equal number of sermons on the topic. But Keller's approach convicted me in a profound way, a conviction that also set me free. I can't explain it, but it's making me hungry to know the heart of the Father more than I ever have before. To taste, and not just "ponder" and "do."