Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Using our Five Senses

You know what they are: Taste, Smell, Hear, See, and Touch. We learn all about them as kids in school, but how much do you think about them on a regular basis as you interact with the world? God gave us our senses as our Creator and I have to believe that there is a reason for each one. Recently, I have been challenged by my brother to interact with the world I'm in using all 5 of my senses. He would write me about an event and tell me about it through the five senses. I have started a Bible study on each of them to see how they were used in Scripture. I'll begin this devotional with the sense of TOUCH.

Touch: This is the way we physically interact with the world. It is in touch that we fully experience our lives. Christ did not have to heal through touch, but everyone believed that it was necessary to touch or fully interact with Christ to receive healing (Matt 14:36). David in the Psalms asks God to come down and touch the earth (Psalms 144:5). After His death and prior to his ascension, Christ told them not to touch him because he was not physical at that point in time (John 20:17).

How are you interacting with your world? Are you really experiencing it? How about your relationship with God - are you truly letting Him "touch" your life? Or are you experiencing life from a distance?

Do you know the song, "The Touch of the Master's Hand"? The story goes that an old violin was worthless until the creator/maker came up and began to play it most magnificently. It was then that the violin had value and worth beyond measure.

Are you letting Him touch you? Are you touching the world recognizing it as His handiwork? Or, are you running through life missing what is really there?

ONE Warning... God clearly tells us in Scripture that in the process of our lives touching the world, that we are to "not touch" evil (Isaiah 52:11; 2 Cor. 6:17). God wants us to fully experience all good things that He bestows, but avoid those things that Satan lures us with that appear to be good. Remember the garden? God gives us so much... and warns us against some things...

Question... Can you walk daily experiencing the world, but not touching those things God warns us against? I think sometimes my struggle is that I take for granted many experiences that God wants me to enjoy so I miss out on the greater experience. On the other hand - I'm too easily tempted to want to experience that which God calls me not to.

Challenge... Daily walk truly letting the good things of God and His creation fully touch you. For instance, the feel of the leaves in the fall, the softness of the breeze on your cheek, the coolness of the air as the seasons change, the smoothness of your blankets as you sleep, and maybe the hardness of the ground as it begins to freeze for the winter. There is also the touch of a hand, the warmth or squeeze of a hug and the coolness or warmth of lips with a kiss.

Lynne Jahns

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