Five Senses

In just a five minutes

One day I was minding my own business as I relaxed in my comfy chair. A thought emerged from the distant recesses of my mind. It soon blossomed into the following:

Jesus Christ, the creator of all things, seen and unseen, designed each of our five senses in a very particular way and for a very particular purpose. With the aid of one of them, my eyesight, I examined each one contained in God’s Word. The result was fascinating to say the least.

Sight (Seeing God’s works, spiritual insight)

• Psalm 34:8 — “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Combines sight and taste metaphorically.)

• Proverbs 20:12 — “Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both.”

• Matthew 6:22 — “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”

• Romans 1:20 — “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”

Hearing (Listening to God’s voice)

• John 10:27 — “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

• Isaiah 30:21 — “Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

• Proverbs 20:12 — (As above, paired with sight.)

Taste (Experiencing God’s goodness)

• Psalm 34:8 — “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good...” (A call to personally experience God’s kindness.)

• 1 Peter 2:3 — “Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

• Psalm 119:103 — “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Touch (Healing, connection, compassion)

• Mark 5:30-34 — Jesus heals the woman who touched the hem of his garment.

• Matthew 8:3 — “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man [with leprosy]. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’”

• 1 John 1:1 — “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.” (Combines multiple senses.)

Smell (Aroma of sacrifice, fragrance of Christ)

• 2 Corinthians 2:15 — “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

• Ephesians 5:2 — “And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

• Genesis 8:21 — “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma [of Noah’s sacrifice] and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground...’”

There you go. Although these verses are metaphorical in many instances, the point is that our Lord designed you and I to worship Him. We were created with the tools to pursue godliness while also given the Holy Spirit in order to help us flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace (2 Timothy 2:22). As one approaches the twilight years they (hopefully) come to understand and accept the wisdom in these truths. In this world the evil one tries to convince us to exchange the truth about God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the Creator. Wether he succeeds or fails depends on our devotion to and worship of Jesus Christ, the creator and sustainer of all things

The genesis of this post derived from a video I saw of a man who, for whatever reason, could only see in black and white, a condition called monochromacy. This man was recently gifted a pair of glasses which changed the refraction in his eyes which somehow enabled him to see in color, for the first time in his life. The rather portly gentleman jumped with tears of joy. Imagine having all five senses restored to perfect order simultaneously.

Oh the joy that awaits us in our heavenly home. May God richly bless you.

Jim Richardson