What is an Itch?

            What is an itch?

            An itch is an irritation in the skin that elicits an urge to scratch.

            By experience, we all know what an itch is. But do you know where an itch comes from? What is the biology of an itch?

            Itch has many similarities to pain. Nerve fibers for itch and pain both originate in the skin. Itch receptors, however, are found only on the top two skin layers. The innermost layers of skin do not have these receptors. Nor do we ever perceive itch in muscles or joints. Itch can be caused by infection, allergic reaction, various skin conditions, healing, and even by the power of suggestion.

            Just talking about itching is like talking about water. When you start to hear about cold, refreshing, thirst-quenching water, a common natural reaction is that you want a drink. When you hear someone talk about itching or read about it, it isn’t long before you may notice an itch to scratch. And when you start scratching in one place and the itch seems to move. When I have had to wear a cast for a broken bone I have experienced what I call an “exquisite” itch – one that is so strong that it must be scratched. That’s one of the reasons coat-hangers were invented as far as I’m concerned. And when that kind of itch is scratched, the sense of relief is so great that I might scratch too much. And too much scratching leads to the danger of infection when the skin is broken.

            Joanne is very useful at times when I have an itch I cannot reach, though she must depend on me navigating her to the right place on my back. For some reason, it feels better when she scratches than when I use a backscratcher. I don’t know why that is. Itching is such a common part of life that we scratch much of the time without even thinking. But itching can be serious (think poison ivy for those who are allergic) and can become a very problematic condition. Swimmer’s itch caused a shutdown of the waterfront at camp a few years ago and became a health issue there. Wherever it originates, most of us don’t like an itch because it’s just plain annoying.

            Have you had to scratch since you started reading this? See what I mean?

            For the most part, in the Bible the word “itch” is confined to some ceremonial/cleanliness laws in the book of Leviticus. But there is an expression used by Paul in his second letter to Timothy that uses the word “itch” as an adjective, describing something about people. Nearing the end of his life and ministry, Paul charges Timothy to faithfully preach the Word of God at all times – what he calls “in season and out of season”. This includes patiently and carefully instructing, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging. Why was this necessary – both then and now? Because a time will come when people will not put up with – the will even hate – sound biblical truth and teaching. Instead, they will run after and fill up on all kinds of ideas and teachings that are doing nothing more than scratching their itch for pleasure… allowing them to do what they want to do Their goal, in effect, is the opposite of what God wants in their lives. Paul describes these people as having “itching ears”. They have an insatiable desire to hear what they want to hear. Today this desire exists on university campuses, in the media, and in all manner of churches where the truth of God’s Word is not enough, or not “acceptable” to the intellectual palate of our time. The words of the Bible are old and out-of-date in the minds of many. Yet there is great pursuit of all kinds of spiritual ideas that are so far-fetched and do little more than give people what they want. Far be it from anyone to say “No” to someone else’s ideas.

            But Paul knew that the Word of God has power, so he encourages Timothy to preach it boldly and faithfully. How about you? Are you looking to the church and its leaders – and to spiritual things in general – to make you feel good and never offend your modern sensibilities… or are you looking for the deep and abiding truths of God’s Word? Where is your itch? Only God’s Word can get it ultimately.

2 Timothy 4:1-4 (NIV) ¹  In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²  Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. ³  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV) ¹⁰  As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, ¹¹  so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)  For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  

PRAYER:  Father, may your Word be what I hunger for, even when what it tells me is uncomfortable in this world’s eyes. You are the author of all truth. May my desire be for you… for your ways… and for your ends in my life and in my world. Teach me to love your Word, and to run from all things intellectual and physical which are nothing more than my wants and wishes. Thank you for your grace.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

On the Job with God

            I read recently that the median number of years a U.S. worker has been in his or her current job is just 4.4, down sharply since the 1970s. The average U.S. worker will have an average of ten to twelve jobs in a lifetime. This decline in average job tenure, the author wrote, is bigger than any economic cycle, bigger than any particular industry, bigger than differences in education levels, and bigger than differences in gender. Two days ago was Labor Day, the “official” end of summer… a day off. I confess I didn’t spend any time on Labor Day celebrating the fact I was employed. But by God’s grace both Joanne and I have passed the average. Does this mean we are above average? J No. It just means we have a great deal to be thankful for.

            In the Sunday school class I’m attending we have begun a look at a broad overview of the Bible by thinking in terms of the Kingdom of God. As John led the class this past Sunday in looking at some themes and ideas from the early chapters in Genesis, we saw how the perfect Kingdom God had established became a “perished” kingdom. A great deal was lost in the Fall when Adam and Eve stopped trusting God and asserted themselves as being ultimate. I thought about how one of those things lost related to work. Work went from being a valued good in the Kingdom of God – something which God Himself does – to becoming a cursed part of life in the perished Kingdom. Work becomes difficult. It becomes a battleground for survival in life. It comes to be infected by sin. Most workers can easily point out the problems where they work and can readily observe the impact of sin – either on the work itself or on the relationships of the workers.

            In the Lord, though, work is a joy. In the Lord, work is a source of thanksgiving and praise. In the Lord, work is worship – or at least a component of how we serve God. In human terms – without the Lord – work is a source of frustration, drudgery, and even pain. I don’t mean to say that someone who is not a believer in Christ can’t enjoy their job. But ultimately, apart from Christ, we are left in the same boat as Solomon: ⁴  I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. ⁵  I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. ⁶  I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. ⁷  I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. ⁸  I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well--the delights of the heart of man. ⁹  I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. ¹⁰  I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. ¹¹  Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11)

            Jesus Christ redeems our work. Not only is it a means by which we care for our families (which is His will) and ourselves… Not only is it a means by which we bless others by helping people in need and by giving (which is also His will)… Not only is it a means by which we find some identity and meaning in life… Our work is an act of worship when we understand Christ as being at the very center of our lives. Jesus doesn’t only save us from our sin when He comes into the world. He redeems things like work from the impact of the Fall. He comes restoring a kingdom which perished due to sin. The transforming power of God’s grace also transforms the worker. May the Lord help us to see our workplace as a grace-place… a place for the Kingdom of God to come in Christ. So may we pursue all that is right and good and honorable there as we seek the mind of Christ.

Colossians 3:22-24 (NIV) ²²  Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

PRAYER:  Father, transform my work, my attitudes, appreciation, and my worship of you as I work, where I work, and with whom I work. May Christ be always at the center of what I do.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

"Baby Hog"

            I joked on Sunday morning about Joanne, my wife, being a “baby hog”. Our recent visit to see our daughter and her husband was much about meeting and being with our new grandson, though we were happy to see his parents as well. On Sunday I said I enjoyed holding him… when I could get him out of Joanne’s arms. In the limited time we had she wanted to make the most of every opportunity. And truthfully, it is a great delight to me to watch my wife delight in Mason. Her experience of joy gives me joy.

            This illustrates another opportunity I have: taking delight in the Lord as He delights in His children. My attitude toward my brothers and sisters in Christ changes when I realize that God delights in them. They are precious to Him and He enjoys them. The Bible describes how in the past God took great pleasure in His children. It uses deeply personal descriptions. Sometimes He is like a husband delighting in his wife, and sometimes He is like a parent delighting in His children.  

I know Joanne could sit for hours just holding, looking at, or playing with Mason. Other “activities” hold little appeal for her in those moments. Do you think of God, your Father in that way? In Christ, His love for you and me is so great that He loves just being with us. In Christ, you are a priority to Him. Endless source of love that He is, He can love you this way, along with every other child He has redeemed. God the Father delights in you because of Christ’s work in you. You have been redeemed and made His child for His glory. His love is not a soupy, sentimental love. It’s a love that does whatever it takes for us to be in the center of His will and purpose in this world. Sometimes it is a comforting love. At other times it is a disciplining love. At still other times it can be a gifting, encouraging, forgiving, or teaching love. Whatever dimension God’s love for us takes, it is always focused upon us through His Son Jesus, the mediator of His grace.

The next time you experience deep pleasure and joy in a relationship, take a moment to thank the Lord that it is a reflection and reminder of the pleasure He has in you.

1 John 3:1 (NIV)  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Psalm 68:5 (NIV)  A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)  Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Matthew 7:11 (NIV)  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Romans 8:14-17 (NIV) ¹⁴  because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. ¹⁷  Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Isaiah 40:11 (NIV)  He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah 66:12-13 (NIV) ¹²  For this is what the LORD says: "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. ¹³  As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."

Psalm 149:4 (NIV)  For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that you delight in your Son. And as we have been made your children by His work and righteousness, we rejoice that we are your children. So we are beloved, treasured, and cherished by you. What an awesome thing to be the object of your pleasure and enjoyment. Please be glorified in us as you love and nurture us.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Being Versus Just Knowing

            I was a youth pastor in a growing church in upstate New York when I was in my twenties. I remember spending a lot of time with parents of teenagers who were struggling with issues and problems with their children. I tried to be supportive and encouraging, but was not always successful. I remember one dad once telling me, “Until you have had a teenager, you can’t really understand. You’ll never know.” I remember inwardly bristling about that, because I thought it was possible to have an idea of what parents went through, even though I was not yet a parent. After all, Catholic priests and counselors of many types serve others whose experiences are not a part of their own. Why couldn’t I as a youth pastor?

            There are different levels of understanding, however. Cognitive awareness is good, but it lacks the full experience of emotion and personal involvement that being the parent entails. I could be sympathetic, and maybe even empathetic to a point, but I have to admit: when I became a parent and eventually the parent of a teenager it was a lot different than just knowing about kids. These children were my responsibility. Their lives were in my hands. The working out of life in relationship with a child is intense and deep in ways that are very different than a more third-party connection. There are definitely things that are more fully realized and understood through experience. To say “I was happy the day the Red Sox won their first world series in 86 years,” is one thing. To say, “I was at the game in St. Louis the day they won it,” is another thing.

            All of this is to get me to the joy of becoming a grandparent. I have heard many wonderful things about having a grandchild. I believed the people who said them and understood the concepts that they expressed. But actually becoming a grandfather about four weeks ago was so much better. You feel the joys of your child, and you are joyful for her (or him). You also feel new fears and worries for the new baby and his well-being and his future. You spend your time just looking at him and you feel a depth of love that goes back to when you had your own children. You’re proud of your daughter and son-in-law and prayerful that God will supply all they need to be loving, godly parents. All of this and more comes into your life and it is wonderful. You feel tremendously blessed and you appreciate the depths of God’s grace. You put your grandson and his parents into God’s hands, because he belongs to the Lord.

            There was nothing new to becoming a grandparent. People do it all the time. It is a common experience that’s really no big deal… until you see him – your grandson - for the first time and you are the one he’s going to call Grampa or Grammie (or whatever works in your family). The Bible speaks about such experiences as being a blessing from the Lord. For this blessing I glorify God and lift up my heart in thanksgiving. And for blessings like this (and different as well), I encourage you to bless the Lord today. AMEN.

Psalm 103:15-17 (NIV) ¹⁵  As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; ¹⁶  the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. ¹⁷  But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--

Psalm 126:5-6 (NIV) ⁵  Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. ⁶  He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Proverbs 17:6 (NIV)  Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

Psalm 139:14-18 (NIV) ¹⁴  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ¹⁵  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, ¹⁶  your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. ¹⁷  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! ¹⁸  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for the joy and privilege of being a grandfather. May your blessing be on Mason and on his mom and dad. May Jesus Christ be the center of that home and their life together, and may you be glorified much in them and through them. Thank you that you knew him before he was even made in his mother’s womb. May he know from his earliest moments how great is your love for him, and may he walk with you all the days of his life.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

More than a Feeling

            A Bible study leader of a group I was in as a teenager once asked the group to define love. We all took a stab at it, but I don’t think any of us could get a real handle on a definition that was complete in any way. Just about every resource you look to for a definition of love describes it as a feeling of some kind… usually intense in nature. Feelings are certainly relevant in any understanding of love, but a big question is “But where does the feeling come from?” What is love’s genesis in us? Why and how does it start? Why did I come to love Joanne instead of any number of other potential women in my college? Isn’t love much more than just feelings of attraction or infatuation?

            We can never truly and fully understand love if we leave God out of the picture or the conversation attempting to define it. An article in The Wall Street Journal (2/14/13) tried to explain that real love doesn't come from God; instead, love is just a bunch of chemical reactions in your brain. According to the article “How Neuroscience Can Help Us Find True Love”, Leil Lowndes says:

      “Valentine's Day is here so get ready to send and receive heart-shaped chocolates and cards decorated with big red hearts. But wait a minute! Not so fast. Neuroscience has discovered that the heart has very little to do with romance. For accuracy you should send your main squeeze a Valentine's Day card with the image of a squishy gray blob evocative of a rotting cauliflower—the brain—because that's where romance really resides. And instead of saying "I love you," the knowledgeable lover would say, "Darling, dopamine floods my caudate nucleus" every time I look at you. Love and attraction are all tangled in the convoluted wiring of the brain.

      So what is love? Neuroscience tells us that love is a condition involving neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, receptors, and circuits in your brain. Cognitive science defines passionate love as an "elevated activity in the brain pathways which cause feelings of euphoria, strong motivation, and heightened energy which can induce sleeplessness, loss of appetite, and obsessive thinking about the beloved.”

            Can the human mind describe and explain what love is and how it works? Not in human terms alone. Not if love is from God. It is impossible for a human being to fully experience/comprehend love apart from God. I think that love is part of what it means to be in the image of God. The Scriptures tell us that love comes from God. Love has its genesis in the Lord. Therefore our experience of love is a result of God’s grace to us. God, who is love takes that which is a part of His very nature and shares it with us and graces us with the ability to love. What a mystery this is!

            I don’t know of anything that has ever topped the Holy Spirit’s words through Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 when it comes to describing love: “ ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”  What a delight to be the object of love. But what an even greater delight to be able to give such a thing to another person! Love is learned. We learn it from God and from our families and from others. Take God out of the picture and take love out of a family and you have a recipe for loveless people, living only for themselves, incapable of thinking or caring for others: incapable of love. You and I have the capacity - and the calling from God – to teach (by word and by demonstration) how to love. And that is something that is “caught”, not intellectualized or scientificated (I know that’s not a word, but I like it.) May the Lord raise up a love in us that reflects His own, and may we have true joy in it.

1 John 4:7-11 (NIV) ⁷  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV) ¹⁷  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸  may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NLT)  May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT) ³⁷  Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸  This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

PRAYER:  Father, though I may not fully understand the length and breadth and height and depth of your love, I have experienced your love throughout my entire life, and it was never more fully expressed than when Jesus died for me. The deeper I go to search out your love, the deeper I go into its wonders.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Adjusting My Day to the Lord's Schedule

            A couple of days ago I was driving on Cottage Street. This is not always a good idea in the middle of the summer in Bar Harbor. And it is definitely not a good idea if you are in any kind of hurry. I was behind a couple of cars that were just crawling along. It looked to me like the lead car was looking for a parking space and had stopped to wait on someone to vacate a space. I recognized a moment later that I was mistaken. As I pulled out to pass them I realized they had stopped to let some pedestrians - whom I had not seen - cross the street. I felt quite embarrassed about my haste and impatience. There was no near miss or anything seriously dangerous that happened, but I know that things can happen quickly, so I was thankful for God’s grace in the situation. I didn’t get any grace from the driver I passed, though. No doubt I deserved the words she sent my way.

            The whole situation was another reminder (I seem to need many such reminders) that not being in a hurry is a good thing. It seems to me that more bad things happen in life when we’re in a hurry than when we are in a relaxed “slow mode”. Most spiritual blessings do not come into our lives when we are in a hurry for them. I don’t think God likes to be “on the clock” of our schedules and demands, as if we could snap our fingers at Him and say, “I want it now!” and have Him deliver. How presumptuous of us if we ever treat Him this way! And yet we struggle often with the Scriptural truth and guidance directing us to wait on the Lord. Which is best: to adjust my schedule and reference of time to the Lord… or to expect the Lord to adjust to my schedule and my reference of time?

            Here’s a good prayer to start your day: “Father, what do you have planned for me this day, and how may I serve Your purposes between now and when I lay my head down to sleep again? Give me grace to adjust my day to Your plans, to wait on You, and rejoice in what the day brings forth. Teach me to wait on You today. Amen.”

            At this moment in time I am waiting for my first grandchild to be born. I am at an age when I am not old enough to retire, but old enough to think about it. There’s a sense of waiting about that. I am waiting for a few weeks of vacation. These and other matters in my life I must constantly place in the Lord’s hands and say, “In Your time, Lord.” I like the way Fanny Crosby put it in her hymn, “All the Way My Savior Leads Me”. This prolific hymn writer is known for having lost her sight at six weeks of age because of an improper medical treatment. As an adult one day she received an answer from the Lord to a prayer expressing a desperate need for five dollars. Such basic and simple things in life were common matters of prayer for her. When that need was met in a way she could not have planned on, she said, “I have no way of accounting for this, except to believe that God put it into the heart of this good man to bring the money. My first thought was that it was so wonderful the way the Lord leads me, I immediately wrote the poem and Dr. Lowry set it to music.” The hymn was published in 1875, when she was 55 years old:

“All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, who through life has been my Guide? Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell! For I know what’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.

      All the way my Savior leads me, cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace for every trial, feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be, gushing from the Rock before me, lo! a spring of joy I see.

      All the way my Savior leads me; Oh, the fullness of His love! Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father’s house above. When my spirit, clothed immortal, wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way.”

            Everything Jesus does… He does well. And everything Jesus does is always worth waiting for. When we wait on Him, we are never disappointed. Amen.

Psalm 27:13-14 (KJV) ¹³  I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Psalm 130:5-7 (NIV) ⁵  I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. ⁶  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. ⁷  O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

Isaiah 8:17 (NIV)  I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.

PRAYER:  Father, give me grace to adjust my schedule today to your voice and your way. I surrender my schedule to yours and look for the goodness of your plan.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Consider the Taste Bud

            When I was in Kindergarten, one day I was called and taken up to the 5^th 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 5^th 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