Sharpened Senses

SHARPENED SENSES
(Caleb Wray)

In the Bible many times Christians are admonished to be on the watch, looking around, etc. There is a sense of urgency in which one must be prepared for what might happen or what temptations might come. This requires our senses to be on the alert. The word “discernment” means the power of faculty of the mind, by which it distinguishes one thing from another, as truth of falsehood.

The Hebrew writer wrote of the danger of leaving the Lord to return to the old life. The book encourages Christians to stay strong in their walk. Hebrews 6:1 — Therefore, leaving the discussion of elementary principles of Christ, let us go onto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. In Hebrews 5:11, the writer gives instruction to those who have become “dull of hearing”. There is danger in drifting away from the Lord. (Hebrews 2:1)

Following the admonishment to those who had become dull in hearing, the writer speaks in 5:12-14 that these should have become teachers by now. Their diet should no longer be milk but meat, but yet they still need meat. Their senses have not become sharpened. Let’s examine the senses of a person from a spiritual aspect in the Word of God.

Sense of Taste — 1 Peter 2:1-3 (v. 3) — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. In the immediate context, Peter is writing about newborn babes in Christ desiring the milk as they have put away all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. (v. 1) By putting off the former things and being attracted to (desiring) the milk of the word, one’s sense is sharpened. Peter relates this to growing. If we desire the milk, we are sharpened by it and grow in God.

Psalm 34:8 — Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! The Psalmist here shows that in using our sense of taste to understand the blessings of God, we trust in Him. Our senses can be sharpened by the way we interact with God and if we will strive to see His Word and His blessings with an open mind.

Sense of Hearing — Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you — The sure mercies of David. Here, Isaiah shows us the benefit in having our sense sharpened. If we will Hear God and His word, then we will live! In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus says in each letter to the churches, “let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The Word has been revealed to man. It speaks to us now to instruct, guide, guard, etc. We must train ourselves to listen to it, and not mankind in order that we might live. Notice again, Hearing GOD leads to life, not hearing man.

Sense of Sight — Paul writes in Ephesians 1:18 — the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Paul shows us that by seeing God and His plan, we can know what the hope is and what the inheritance is. The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law.” God has revealed to us His plan in the Bible, we need simply train our eyes to look beyond things of this world, to see God’s ways.

Sense of Smell — Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 four times of the aroma. In it, he talks of the aroma of knowledge, the aroma of salvation in Christ, the aroma of death, and the aroma of life. In Philippians 4:18, Paul compares a sweet-smelling aroma as pleasing sacrifice to God. If we will see worship as God desires it, and if we will see ourselves as God see us, what smell would we give? Are our senses trained to know what leads to life eternal and what is pleasing to God or are we in a perpetual cold where we cannot distinguish any smell at all?

Sense of Feeling — In 2 Kings 22:19 because your hear was tender, you humbled yourself before the Lord. Ephesians 4:19 talks about those who have become numb and thus have gone over to practicing uncleanness. Have we become so set in our ways, that we do not use our sense of feeling anymore? Has worship become to where it is just going through the motions, and so no joy is experienced? Do we despise getting together with our fellow Christians because it doesn’t mean anything to us? My prayer is that the sense never becomes numb. The joy we experience from each other and the Word is only a taste of what is to come. The Word of God moves people today, and it should us too.

Sometimes we sing a song “Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus. To reach our and touch Him, and say that we Love Him. Open our ears Lord, and Help us to listen. Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus.” The only way our senses get sharpened is through trust in God, and time in His Word and with His people.

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