Psalm 34 - Banana Pudding

Psalm 34

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good

I am reminded of the horrific ‘Banana Pudding’ night at the Pruet house.
There is almost no dessert that I love, more than my wife’s banana pudding. I can’t remember who she got the recipe from…..but it was one of those things….when I tasted it for the first time, I was like,
“Honey!!!!! you have got to get this recipe.” And she did, and now it is her recipe..and it is devine.
Well one night, it had been a long time since Jenny had made it, and I said….”sweetheart, how bout making some banana pudding?” (and I was making sad puppy dog eyes) Of course she agreed.
Well that night at dinner…I was so excited to eat the banana pudding, and I couldn’t remember the last time we had it. So I was excited for the kids to join me in this awesome delectable treat.
So as dinner finished, I said, “Who wants banana pudding?” and I was raising my hand at my own question…and my son….didn’t. I was like….what’s wrong with him? He cant be my son….So I asked, why don’t you want any? And of course is answer was, “I don’t like it” to which I responded, “ How do you know you don’t like it, if you’ve never tried it?”
Anyway, this escalated to the point of him crying and me screaming that he would just try the banana pudding. He became irrational and I became incensed. It ended up being a battle of wills…..of which I don’t believe I’ve ever lost one of those. He eventually tried a bite…but that small amount of deliciousness….gave him the same reaction that I get when I tried liver….he gagged and almost threw up. Why? Because he had convinced himself that whatever he tasted was going to be rancid.
Needless to say, I don’t believe that I handled the who Banana Pudding incident correctly….but I did want him to try something that I loved. And I think, so many times we try to force Jesus down the throat of people…who for whatever reason, don’t think that they like Him. It offends us…..they become irate…..and it escalates to the point that they may never try Jesus again
This is what I love about “Loving Our Neighbor” and “Serving our City”…..people get a “taste” without ever stepping foot in a church building. They can make a rational judgment on Jesus based what we know Jesus to be about….. loving.