6 Senses

We have six senses. We each tend to have more of one or rely more on one than others. For me it is smell. Neuroliguistic programmers say our smell is captured in many ways in our brains, bringing images and experiences alive. I believe that is true. There are not a lot of Bible verses about smell, and a number referencing taste. Taste and smell go together. Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him.” How can we taste the Lord?  I believe it is clear in Scripture that we taste the Lord by His Word, in the Bible. In fact, Psalm 119:103 tells us, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Tasting God’s word in a function of study and meditation. It is taking in His precepts until they are part of us. In fact the Prophet Ezekiel takes this to heart hearing God saying to him, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll…Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness” (Ezekiel 3:1-3).  You see, God wanted His people to hear the words of warning and healing, but they were stiff-necked and would not hear them.  Proverbs tells us that, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. 

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul…the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether, more to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:7,9,10). I love this theme of the Word of God being sweeter than honey. Taste and see that the Lord is good. The words of the Lord come to our smell and taste, but also our sight. Psalm 119:105 tell us that, Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path.”  God’s word is our visual guide as we walk. We are to, “Trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Do you hear the Lord when He calls? “I will hear what the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints” (Psalm 85:8). Often Scripture says to “those with eyes to see and ears to hear” before a proclamation of truth. In Isaiah 6 God warns, “Keep on hearing but not understanding; keep on seeing but do not perceive…lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.” God asks how long will they not hear or see and be healed.

Has God touched you and healed you? He touched Isaiah’s lip with a hot coal saying, “Behold, this has touched your lips, your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged” (Isaiah 6:6). When calling the prophet Jeremiah he said, “Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: ‘Behold I have put My words in your mouth.’” (Jeremiah 1:9).  The woman with a12 years of issue of blood touched Jesus and His healing power touched her in return.

“Taster and see that the Lord is good” we read in Psalm 19. The Bible is replete with sight references and it should because most of us are secretly from Missouri and have to see it. Listen to the Apostle John quoting Jesus concerning His needing to die. “ A little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:19). On resurrection day, Jesus walked with the two men to Emmaus, but they were kept from recognizing Him, perhaps by Satan. He opened the Scriptures to them. They heard but did not see. They reached their destination, and Jesus appeared to be going further. They invited Him to join them for dinner. It was only when He gave thanks to His Father and broke the bread that they saw that “their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight” (Luke 24:31). They could feel their hearts had been burning within them. They were now able having heard, tasted and seen the Lord to believe and say, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon…and how He was known to them in the breaking of the bread” (vv. 34-35).   Sight is thought to be the primary sense of men. But we need more so often. We can see better when we get further away or higher often, like climbing a mountain. Only when we come down and view from afar does the whole mountain come into focus. But there is a spiritual sense where we must get lower, on our knees or face to see.

Our sixth and strongest sense is spiritual. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. In Hebrews 5:14 the author speaks of spiritual maturity and how all of our senses are engaged. “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”  Now that is the full use of our senses empowered by the Holy Spirit who will guide us in all truth. In the famous hymn Amazing Grace, John Newton, the former slaver turned minister writes, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me....

I once was lost but now am found,

     Was blind, but now, I see.”

“Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). This hearing and seeing in through the power of the Holy Spirit working within you to invite and receive Jesus into your heart with all your senses. “Taste and see that He is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8).