Taste and See – Tuesday, March 9 – The Third Tuesday of Lent

I want to revisit one of the scriptures passages we read yesterday again today.

Isaiah 55: 1-6 NIV

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.

See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of the peoples.

Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,
because of the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

Yesterday we talked about letting this Lenten season inspire a deep thirst for God.  We talked about seeking after God because he desires to satisfy us when we seek him.  Today, I wanted to revisit this passage because it is so beautiful and rich with imagery.

In the first paragraph God calls to those who are thirsty and tells them to “come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk” and then later he says “listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”

Think about that for a few moments.  God isn’t talking about just giving us anything, but he describes what he will give us as the “richest of fare.”  The fullest and most glorious of all things.  God’s not just giving those who are thirsty muddy nasty water, but “milk and wine” the highly valued and important delicacies.

This is how it is with God.  If we seek him and thirst after him he will not only satisfy our desire for him, but will give us the best.

During Lent we fast in order to help us learn to desire God, but during Lent we also learn to truly feast.  Feasting in a fast?  This is more than just a play on words.  As we fast, we need to be filling ourselves up with good things – We need to be feasting on God. We do this through reading the scriptures and things that will guide our thoughts to God, praying more, going to church more, helping the poor and needy, and seeking out means of taking communion.

During this Lent we fast, and in order to sustain ourselves we need to turn to God and “buy and eat” as it says in this passage from Isaiah.  Jesus clearly recognized this.  When he was hungry after forty days of fasting the devil came to him and tempted him to turn stones into bread.  Instead Jesus quickly replied:

Matthew 4:4 NRSV

It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Jesus also talks about this in the Gospel of John:

John 4:31-34 NRSV

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”  So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to east?”  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”

Let us hunger and thirst for God not only during Lent, but all of our days.  As we hunger and thirst for God let us seek him and truly feast.  Let us “come, buy, and eat” –  eat the words of God found in the scriptures and feast as we communion with him in prayer and communion.  Let us listen to the words of the Psalmist who urges us to:

Psalm 34:8 NRSV

O taste and see that the Lord is good:
happy are those who take refuge in him.

Closing Prayer:

O Lord and master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother or sister for blessed are you always. Amen

– The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem