There is no doubt we are to develop a taste for God’s amazing grace. How interesting that the writer, Peter, tells the beleaguered saints scattered all abroad Asia Minor to add the sweet ingredient of grace to the fire of suffering and the saltiness of their tears. They had been targeted, tormented, and tried for their faith. Some martyrs had been thrown to lions, others were torn apart by being dragged behind chariots, and still others, used as torches for Roman dinner parties.

The taste of tears is not uncommon to the church. Not then, and not now. In our little flock, we too, have tasted the bitterness of life. Members struggle with broken homes, runaway children, surprised by the death of a spouse, and others have been struck at heart by news of circumstances that leave them sobbing in the night – they are tear tasters. They identify with the Psalmist, who wrote, My tears have been my meat day and night (Psalm 42:3). Some historians believe this Psalm was written during the time Absalom tried to overthrow the kingdom from David. All David could do is cry . . . day and night.

Friend, are you there? We long for the secret ingredient that brings a better taste to our mouths. We long for the remedy to the curse of the fall and the sharp teeth of the adversary. What are we to do? What sweetener is there for the pain that removes from us our greatest temporal joys?

Peter reminds us that it is a desire for the sweet milk of God’s word that we need (I Peter 2:2). Not just the general scope of the words of the scriptures, as healthy as they are for growth, we need to taste again (appreciate again) the specific word that brought us to life. It is the “Rhema” or the Gospel word that life is found and enjoyed to its fullest in the shadow of the cross. All my pain is swallowed up in this glorious word spoken from the parched tongue of a bleeding Lamb dying in my place – “It is finished!” All I owe, the full weight of all my sin, the towering mountain of guilt, is now absorbed and absolved by this one act of grace. God’s goodness to me in His atonement is so sweet that it takes over the recipe of life trials and dominates my sorrows. Taste it again today! If so be . . . ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious... Have you tasted the goodness of grace? How sweet it is! Why not write me and tell me about how grace has blessed you in suffering?

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good,

blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. --Psalm 34:8

Blessings are yours because of Him,