“God is Great, God is Good, let us thank Him for our food.” This mealtime blessing has been, and hopefully continues to be, an introduction to prayer for many children. The prayer is simple and straightforward, ascribing attributes to God that a child can begin to understand.

To a child, “good” might imply that God always treats others nicely. God makes sure children have food, shelter and love. God makes the sun shine. God keeps the monsters out from under our bed. God is never bad. “Great” may mean that God is bigger and stronger, that He protects us and that He does everything right.

In Psalm 34, David exhorts us to “taste and see that the Lord is good: for those who fear Him lack nothing.” God does not change as we mature and change. God continues to be good. In the beginning, God saw His creation and it was good. All God does is eternal, perfect, complete and pure in every way.

As we mature physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, our concept of God’s goodness should mature accordingly. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” Our daily relationship with Jesus will lead us into a greater understanding of God’s goodness, holiness and righteousness.

So, how do we taste the Lord?

There are multiple references to taste in the Bible. These references are both literal, as in tasting food, and figurative, as in tasting death (Matthew 16: 28). It is evident that David is using the sense of taste in the figurative way to indicate that we must experience the Lord and know Him on a daily basis.

Creating us in His image, God blessed us with five senses that enable us to experience the blessings of His creation. Our ability to see, taste, hear, feel and smell the essence of God’s creation heightens our awareness of the goodness of God and all He does.

We must stand firm in our relationship with Jesus and guard against any perversion of our senses. Satan desires to deceive us into becoming slaves to our perverted sensual perceptions. Such perversion can lead to overindulgence, substance abuse, sexual addiction and many other forms of self-indulgence, called “acts of the flesh” by Paul in Galatians 5:19.

God is Good. God is always the loving Father. God desires that all who are bound by sin and slavery be brought to freedom by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. God desires that we be rescued from our sin, self-indulgence and slavery, that we be adopted as His children, and that we become heirs to the Kingdom.

Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Read Galatians 5:16-24. Be aware of the acts of the flesh. Understand the conflict that occurs within each of us. Dwell on the fruit of the Spirit.
2. Look up a biblical definition of good. Does it differ from your present understanding of good?
3. Read Ephesians 6:10-18. Pray for wisdom to understand the devil’s schemes and for the Holy Spirit’s protection in the battles you face.