God created us in His image and included the sense of taste—a gift that often gets us in trouble, as our scales will attest. We delight in the tastes of a variety of foods. Does God?

Jesus ate. He dined on the food Martha lovingly prepared for Him. He tasted the catch of the day on Galilee’s shore. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He shared Passover with His disciples. As a Man, He tasted His food. As God, He created food to have flavor. How amazing that He included this delightful detail! Even His provision of the nourishing but boring manna had a specific flavor—it “tasted like wafers made with honey” (Ex. 16:31).

One day we will sit in Heaven at the wedding supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). We can anticipate a meal as none we’ve ever tasted. While we wait, we not only enjoy the gift of flavorful food, but are invited to savor the spiritual blessing of taste:

• O taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8)
• How sweet are Your words to my taste… sweeter than honey! (Psalm 119:103)
• You have tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord. (1 Peter 2:3, AMPC)

Satisfy your soul as eagerly as your physical appetite. Taste the Lord’s goodness, devour His Word, delight in His kindness.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

This sense is more elusive than the others. We do not physically feel His touch like we do when a friend puts a hand on our shoulder, or when a spouse hugs us, or a child takes our hand. We feel those touches, and relish them. God’s touch is deeper, reaching into our heart and soul. Because they’re not physical, we may dismiss them, especially when they prompt us to take action. These are some ways God touches us.

He touches our pain and brings relief and peace.

He touches our sorrow, figuratively wiping our tears and comforting our souls.

He touches our conscience, convincing us to do what is right.

He touches our compassion, compelling us to respond to a need.

He touches our mind, gifting us with insight and understanding.

He touches our need, supplying us with better solutions than we anticipated.

He touches our soul, satisfying us in unexpected ways.

Our best response is to extend ourselves to touch Him—to reach for His hand for closeness, to touch the hem of His garment for healing, to find the wisdom He gives, to be led in His ways, and to please Him as His child by simply drawing near.

And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:16

Did Jesus smell the fish grilling on the shore of Galilee? Did He notice the fragrance of blossoms when He walked through the hills of Judea? Was He aware of the stench from the unwashed bodies He touched? Jesus was fully man so, yes, He had the sense of smell.

He is also fully God, which leads me to the question, what does God smell? I suggest three answers which I don’t believe are complete but they keenly relate to us.

1. God smells our prayers. We begin to speak from the fulness of our hearts and the fragrance of our prayers wafts into God’s presence with a satisfying aroma. Priests of old burned incense on altars to please Him and we do the same when we pray. In Revelation John records what he saw in heaven.

Angels “holding golden bowls, full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (5:8). “Another angel…was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints” (8:3).

2. God smells our sacrifices—the humility of our hearts in repentance, the giving of our time and goods, the relinquishment of selfishness. The cost of our sacrifice rises as a pleasing fragrance to Him. Read Numbers 15:3:

“Offer to the Lord… a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feasts, to make a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”

3. God smells our lives—the way we live emits a scent that pleases Him and reveals God to those around us. The apostle Paul says that Christians spread the fragrance of Jesus everywhere.

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” 2 Corinthians 2:14–16

Friends, let us walk in love and exude the fragrance of a life that belongs to God to a world that needs Him.

Last night a sound alerted my senses. Was it a child, or an animal? A neighbor, or a radio? I strained, but I couldn’t distinguish the source. I love closed captioning for my Brit shows, but it wasn’t an option for these night noises. How different for God! When he hears a sound He knows both the source and the cause—He never needs closed captions.

The sounds we delight in most were created by Him and give Him pleasure too. I imagine He loves the roar of the waves, the crash of thunder, the crescendo of a waterfall, the gurgle of a stream, the purr of a kitten, the hum of a hymn. How much more does God savor the sound of His children’s voices!

I remember holding my baby, listening to her breathe. Ever on mom-alert, I could hear her yawn, stretch, and move. I was familiar with her every sound, but not as attuned as God is to us. He hears our sighs, our whispers, our gasps, our shouts, and even our unspoken words.

He revels in our words of praise and listens for them. God loves us to hear us initiate conversation with Him. He listens for our calls for help and directs us. He’s attentive to our complaints and refocuses us. He hears our sobs and comforts us. Every cry of pain, plea for intervention, and call for wisdom is heard. He overhears our conversations when we speak about Him with friends—and He records our words (Malachi 3:16)!

God hears our words and He hears our hearts. He is attuned to the pulse of our souls.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Psalm 139:1-6