Today, and it must be partly because spring is definitely in the air, our thanksgiving just has to be for the wonderful way that God has made us. In particular for the fact that He has created us with our five senses with which to enjoy His wonderful creation, the incredible kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and smells that are all around us, not to mention the taste and touch, that enrich our lives continually.
We read in Psalm 139:14 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and while we may need to revisit that verse many times, especially when, or if, we are tempted to feel dissatisfied with our bodies, today let us just wonder at the wisdom, kindness and creativity of our God in giving us these amazing five senses with which to experience the richness of the life on earth, that greets us every day as we awake.
Each of the senses have both a guarding and protecting function, and a life enhancing function. It just makes me think ‘How brilliant is our God to make us with these abilities? And as I get older I find myself praying, “Lord let me never take any one of them for granted”. I have found that intentionally thanking God for each of them has increased the way I value them, and has greatly enhanced my appreciation of them.
We sometimes talk about a beautiful view or a stunning sunset as being a ‘feast’ for our eyes. We can see beauty all around us, all the marvels of our world, the universe and the sky at night. In addition to providing us with endless information as we go through our days, our eyes give us a daily feast of colour, shape, form and texture. It is worth noting that this is about the extravagance of our God. Everything could be in black and white and we would all be able to function OK. But no! Our human eye can detect colour, shades, dimensions, distance, etc, etc. It is all quite extraordinary.
Our ears hear sounds that can alarm and warn but also sounds that soothe and bring peace or that stimulate our brains. And let us never forget the sounds that we hear that we can interpret as language and which enable us to communicate. Then there is music in all its various expressions. Something that can bring great joy, stir our memories, or cause us to move our bodies, just because we can. Yet again the shear genius of our ear and brain connections which enable us to distinguish and enjoy the magnificent range, and variety of sound is phenomenal.
Then we have taste and smell. Senses which we often take for granted, but which those who have suffered some of the side effects of covid will now tell us, are vital for the enjoyment of food. Again I have to say that God didn’t have to create such a huge variety of tastes and smells for us to survive. I get the feeling that He just so enjoyed creating, that He couldn’t stop. Finally we have touch, that amazing gift that can comfort us, help us with our communication, and enable us to navigate and use the things around us.
All our senses are like gateways through which we receive and enjoy the extravagance of the world in which God has placed us. It occurs to me today, that although these senses are essentially biological and physical attributes of being human, they also contribute to our spiritual life too. These senses feed our brains with information, they are the channel through which our minds and emotions are stirred, and of course ultimately they are given to us that so that we can worship.
We know that we have a spirit and that we are to worship the Lord in spirit and truth, but today let us thank the Lord that, from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep, His voice comes to us throughout the day in so many different ways. It is through our five senses that we gather all the information that we need to lead us into worship everyday of our lives,
I believe that as we thank the Lord for our five senses, we will indeed become more and more aware of the wonder of the gift that they are to us, and as we appreciate what God has given us in them, we will gladly join the psalmist, with no hesitation, in declaring that “we are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made”.
May we never lose our sense of wonder.
