When I was in Kindergarten, one day
I was called and taken up to the 5th grade classroom. I was not
aware at the time, but I had been chosen to help with an “experiment”. The
teacher set four unidentified strips of what looked to me like paper in front
of me and asked me to taste them – one at a time. Evidently the experiment had
to do with the different tastes. I remember the 5th graders laughing
at my (facial) reactions to the strips. It was the same response that I myself had
recently when I watched a YouTube video of babies’ first reactions to tasting a
piece of lemon. It was quite funny.
Consider the taste bud. Taste buds
are onion-shaped
structures on the tongue and elsewhere in the mouth. In the wonderful design of
God, up to 100 taste receptor cells are arranged in each taste bud. On average
the human tongue has between 2000 and 8000 taste buds. From these a series of
nerve connections carry the taste messages to the brain. Five basic taste
qualities (five elements of taste perception) are now recognized by scientists
and by eaters: salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami (a Japanese term for a
savory sensation). As these elements work, they combine to assist us to
identify flavors. While the old saying – “There is no accounting for taste” –
may be about more than what just taste buds do, it is also true in the physical
realm. Taste, like beauty, is in the eye (or the tongue) of the beholder. What
one person enjoys, the next person may gag at the idea of eating. All human
beings vary regarding what foods they like… or love… or hate. When I was young
I disliked the taste of many foods that now I enjoy a great deal. Just the
“idea” of a certain food can convince us that we do not like it. But when we
take our mother’s advice – even decades after she first said it – and tried
“it” we realized we liked it, and felt bad for missing out on it all those
years. “How do you know you don’t like it,” she asked, “if you’ve never tried
it?”
Salty and sour detection is needed
to control salt and acid balance in our bodies. Bitter detection warns of foods
containing poisons. The sweet taste receptors provide a guide to calorie-rich
foods. Our sense of taste has a simple goal: helping the human being decide
whether to swallow or spit it out. It's an extremely important decision, but it
can be made based on a just a few taste qualities. A 2004 scientific taste
study by Jane Bradbury reminds us that the ability to taste food is a
life-and-death matter. Failure to recognize food with a high enough caloric
content could mean a slow death from malnutrition. Failure to detect a poison
could result in near-instant expiration.
The psalmist applies the metaphor of
taste to both the Word of God and to God Himself, suggesting that if we “taste”,
our response will be something like the child having his first lick of ice
cream: “It’s gooooood!” How else could we say it? “Yummy”… “Delicious”…
“Pleasing to the palate”… “Amazing!” And it is likely that, once we’ve tasted,
our next word will be “More!...” The deep and profound goodness of the Lord
will always draw us to want more as we benefit from it… as it blesses us with
joy and happiness. We want more: a deeper walk, the filling of the Holy Spirit,
the cleansing of our sin, the fruit of the Spirit, power to proclaim Christ.
And God always obliges the hungry soul. He is generous and “fills our cups” to
overflowing. May you find Him to be one who does above and beyond all that you
ask or imagine today.
Psalm 34:8 (NIV) Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who
takes refuge in him.
Psalm 119:103 (NIV) How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Matthew 5:6 (NIV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled.
PRAYER: Father, may I live as Jesus indicated,... not
by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, and may it
be pure joy. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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