To Encourage You

Romans 8:5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Do you realize that for every one of our physical senses there is a spiritual parallel?  For example, Jesus healed those who were physically blind, but it was those who were spiritually blind that were in a much worse condition.  They couldn’t see spiritual danger, and they couldn’t see the Light of the World Who was the only One Who could save them from that danger.  He called the Pharisees “blind guides” and warned that those who followed them would inevitably fall into a spiritual pit (Matthew 15:10-14). 

Then there are the spiritually deaf.   When Jesus talked about people having “ears to hear,” He obviously wasn’t talking just about physical hearing, for those to whom He said these words could obviously hear Him. However, if they didn’t listen, really listen, which involved believing what He said and acting upon it, it was because they were spiritually deaf.  It’s the condition of having no interest in the words of Scripture. In other words, deaf to the life-giving words of the Living God. 

Some people can’t speak physically, but to be dumb spiritually is to be unable to “confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord” because, in their minds, Jesus most definitely is not Lord, and without the capacity to sincerely say these words, no one can be saved (Romans 10:9-10). 

Then there is the sense of touch.  Spiritually speaking, this points to those who are able to reach out and touch Jesus with a touch of faith, for it is this touch that Jesus reacted to with His healing in the account of the woman with the issue of blood. This, in spite of the fact that there were so many in the crowd who were pressing in on Him physically (Luke 8:42-48). 

Of course the Bible also tells us about the spiritual sense of taste. In the case of physical taste, there is the idea that you can’t fully understand the nature of food by just looking at it, touching it, or smelling it. To fully appreciate the nature of food, you must have a more intimate connection to it. You must take it into your mouth. So with the spiritual. There is an intimacy that is necessary to fully appreciate what a relationship with Christ is. The psalmist implores us, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Psalm 34:8). And in Psalm 119:103 we read, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” It’s the idea that one must “try it to like it!” And when one does, it should spark such a longing for more that we should be “Like newborn infants, (and) long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

But what about the sense of smell?  Is there a spiritual aspect to this sense as well?  Surely there is, and the verses above from Romans 8 speak to it.  These verses tell us that a mind set on the flesh, i.e., a mindset only on physical things such as physical lusts and physical passions, “is death.”  You see, there is a physical stench to dead things.  We become aware of it anytime we get close to it.  It’s a despicable smell, one that anyone in his or her right mind immediately wants to avoid.  Spiritually speaking, sin is like that, but if one has no spiritual sense of smell, i.e., spiritual discernment, if you will, they won’t be able to smell it and will therefore be unaware of the stench of the environment that they are in.  And the closer they get to it, like anything else with an awful smell, it will sooner or later stick to them, and they won’t even be aware of it.  In fact, the Bible tells us that the spiritual sense of smell of the unbeliever is so defective that it works the opposite of the sense of smell of a person who is spiritually alive.  The Bible tells us that “We (i.e., believers in Christ) 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 2:15-16).  In other words, the gospel message and a life influenced by it is “an aroma of life” to the Christian. It’s a sweet and beautiful smell that points to the wonders of forgiveness from sin and the blessing of eternal life. It’s a sensitivity to and a desire to walk in the love of Christ “as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2).  But to unbelievers, it’s something to be avoided, for it speaks of death to them.  It is only when the unbeliever, by the grace of God, begins to understand that sin actually is a mark of spiritual death and begins to “smell” the incredible stench associated with it, that they will ever turn to Christ to be healed. 

May God give us the spiritual sense of smell that is sensitive to the stench of sin and death, so that it is something we avoid at all costs, as well as sensitive to the sweet smell of the Word of God, thanking and praising Him for the Life that only He can give. And, wonderfully, it is thanksgiving in the form of prayer that has its own sweet smell, a smell that glorifies God as fragrant incense that rises before His throne (Revelation 8:3-4).