My father-in-law, Ingvar, was 84 years old and had been riding motorcycles for 70 years in Sweden. One Sunday afternoon during a visit, I, my wife, and some friends met together, looking at classic bikes and listening to Ingvar tell stories of his days of riding.
That afternoon I could hear the bikes when they were started up, I could touch them, sit on them. When Ingvar told stories about riding them, racing them, his eyes grew so bright and his laughter contagious. I was taken back through history, like a time traveler. I understood things I have only read about in a way I never could before. When I got back to the US, I shared this experience with several people, spontaneously, and enjoyed it all over again.
We've been studying 1 John.
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete." 1 John 1:1-4 (NIV)
What motivated me to share my experience of that afternoon, when I did not share times that I have read an article on classic bikes in a magazine? I tasted that experience, I heard the bikes, touched them, talked with a man who rode them. It was tangible, personal, and amazing.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good" Ps 34:8. (NIV)
It is easy to fall into a rut with the Lord. Read about Him, pray to Him, go to church and sing songs about Him, but have we tasted Him? Have we spent time with Him and enjoyed that so much we cannot help but share that experience with others?
Is our life with the Lord tangible and real?
