Food for thought....last one for the night. :)

Woo! We are on a roll with the randomness tonight! So, here is one last post coming to you from the beautiful people of HILLSONG CHURCH!

Dinner Time

Posted by:

Thomas Hansen

6 January, 2012

Have you ever prepared something for someone but as soon as they tried it, they didn’t like it? You on the other hand are convinced that if they just gave it a bit more time, they would love it, but to no avail.
At home we experience this on a daily basis. My wife or I (the latter was said a bit optimistically but nevertheless) will make something in the kitchen for dinner. Then the moment will arrive when the first spoonful will enter the mouth of one of the hardest critics in the country - our almost 3 year old daughter, Sienna. As soon as she tastes it, she will make a decision whether or not, she wants to consume the rest. If the first taste puts her off, it doesn’t matter if I act out eating the rest of the meal with a smile on my face for hours; she will NOT eat it.
What I have found though, is that it has often very little to do with the actual taste of the meal as it does with the experience and feelings surrounding it. If the atmosphere is tense or rushed (not that it ever is :)I can almost guarantee that she will not “like” it. If it’s relaxed and fun though, we can place the same meal in front of her and suddenly she doesn’t like but “Mummy & Daddy...I LOVE it!!!”
Psalm 34:8 encourages us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good...” It is not a question of whether or not God is good. Taste and see that He IS good. God is good.
What is it then that puts people off?
Well, just like it’s more the surroundings of our dinner time that determines Sienna’s reaction, so it is with people and God. God is good, but am I? God is good but am I relaxed, loving, encouraging, serving, humble and in general displaying the characteristics of our great God?
Let’s face it, we are the one entrusted to hold the spoon and serve Christ to a starving world. How I pray that the first impression people have of Christ in me the hope of Glory, is a good one.