A new taste.

In order to find God and receive the grace He freely gives, we first must lose ourselves to pursuing Him. As He is the lover of our souls, and as He is the Great artist of the canvas of our existence, so is He also in desperation for us. Our starvation is pleasing to Him, our brokenness is perfect for Him, our desperation for Him is evident of our desire and proof of our love.

Augustine wrote, “I was astonished that although I now loved you … I did not persist in enjoyment of my God. Your beauty drew me to you, but soon I was dragged away from you by my own weight and in dismay I plunged again into the things of this world … as though I had sensed the fragrance of the fare but was not yet able to eat it.”

Seeking after God MUST be a full time job. We still have the ability to lose things after we find them. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've lost my keys, and had to find them. Again, and Again. If we are not eager in our desire for Him, and we lose sight of Him, we lose Him.

We must remember that our indwelling sin stands in the way of our full satisfaction in God. It is that indwelling sin that distorts and perverts our need, our want, our desire for Him. Here's the kicker: Christian life is impossible. Here's the OTHER kicker: Christian life is supernatural.

And since Christian life if supernatural, we can only depend on the supernatural to save us. Your best friend can not, your brother can not, your dad can not, MAN can not. John Piper says, “There is only one hope. The sovereign Grace of God.” When we come to the realization that life cannot be lived fullest on our own, and we're left alone after this life, there begins a transformation in our Heart. It's that transformation that awakens us the the joy of life, offered by the Grace of God. A promise that our searching, our desire, our desperation to know the heart of God, will result in the fulfillment of joy, and at the same time, the satisfaction of suffering for Him in our temporary station on earth. It is those internal changes that are only possible with divine grace.

True salvation is the awakening of a NEW taste for God.