Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Each of our five senses (all of which, of course, were given to us by God) can be involved in the process of coming to know God, and in our lives as Christians after being saved.

Through sight, we can appreciate the beauty, wonder, and witness to God's existence of the natural world that God created (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:20). Sight also allows us to read God's revelation to mankind found in the Bible, and to see ways in which we can be of assistance to our fellow human beings, or serve God in some other manner.

Hearing permits us to further experience creation through the processing of the sounds associated with it; to grow in our faith and Christian life by the receipt of preaching based on God's word; and to facilitate the process of sharing the gospel with others by talking with them and witnessing to them.

Taste (accompanied by smell, since we would not be able to taste if we had no sense of smell) allows us to fully partake of the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper and to appreciate and be thankful for the bounty of food that God has provided for humanity. Taste is also figuratively used in the Bible as a metaphor for experiencing God's mercy and love. (As mentioned in Psalm 34:6, and as quoted by St. Peter in 1 Peter 2:3, "Taste and see that the Lord is good.")

Apart from the role of smell in facilitating taste, God Himself mentions smells or aromas that are pleasing to Him in the form of offerings or sacrifices in numerous passages, such as Genesis 8:21, Leviticus 1:9, and Numbers 29:2. Paul also mentions the lives of Christians themselves as figuratively being such a pleasing aroma in 2 Corinthians 2:15. In addition, smell is yet another way through which we can appreciate things such as the fragrance of flowers or other similar aspects of nature with pleasing odors, and thank God for them.

Finally, touch comes into play in physical gestures of comfort or assistance to others (such as anointing in the treatment of sickness (James 5:14-16)), or in conferring authority upon others (as in the bestowing of the Holy Spirit on people by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17)). Through touch, we can also experience the physical pleasure of heterosexual love, which God provided for the benefit of men and women, and as a means for them to become "one flesh", and also to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28), within the context of marriage, which God Himself instituted (Genesis 2:23-24).

July 30 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report