No Taste or Smell
Not having taste or smell has been one of the strangest experiences of my life. I had no symptoms of Covid until I couldn’t smell garlic bread! It’s been three months. I have resorted to drinking tea in the mornings and really praying over certain foods I trust are still good. It has been nearly three months and there is still no sign of it coming back. Everything is bland and tasteless. French fries require no ketchup and salads need no dressing.
In a desperate state to find these senses again, I tried the orange trick. I burned an orange on the stove and ate it with brown sugar. Needless to say, it didn’t work!
I don’t necessarily forget what foods taste like, but in a strange way, I have lost all desire and cravings for food. I would love to hear if any of you have experienced some of these same things. Misery loves company.
It’s been terrible. I am so looking forward to enjoying a good cup of coffee again one day.
My question is: How many of us have lost our “taste and desire” for God’s Word? Pastor, is the Bible still your bread of life, or simply another source for your Sunday preparations?
It is not an orange, but here are FOUR WAYS TO GET YOUR TASTE BACK AGAIN.
1. Find Christ in His Words.
I wake up every morning and look out my sliding doors to see the sky, homes, and hopefully the sun (at least 175 days a year). But when we have guests in our home, and they look out over our deck, they see a beautiful picturesque mountain-filled landscape. I see that same beauty every day but I have become accustomed to it.
I’m afraid we have been looking at the print so long that our eyes have become dim to the pictures of Christ throughout the Book!
2. Know Christ in His Words.
Paul was arguably the most studied and intellectual spiritual leader of his day. His knowledge of the Old Testament, coupled with his training by God in the wilderness, set him above any of his equals.
Yet in Philippians 3:10 he says that his goal was to know Christ. What? He knew Christ. He knew Christ better than anyone on earth. But he desired to know him more.
How amazing is it for us to hold in our hands a book that allows us to know God personally!
3. Listen to Christ through His Word.
We have a misguided concept when it comes to hearing “the voice of God.” I heard a pastor say not too long ago that God spoke to him, but he was not permitted to let his congregation know by what means it came to him. No! Pastors do not get special revelation. This misguided concept has driven many young people away from the faith. They have never heard God’s voice so why continue trying to listen? This is a tragedy!
God speaks through His Word. No pastor, prophet, or priest required!
4. Cherish His Word.
When I was in the Philippines, I had the opportunity to preach to a people group that did not have a written language. It took two hours of hiking up a mountain to reach them. I would preach to them in English, then it would be translated into Tagalog. Another translator would then translate from Tagalog to the language of the people. I’m sure my sermon sounded nothing like it did when I preached it in English! I couldn’t leave my notes for them, a Bible, or a thumb drive. The only Word of God these people would have was the spoken word they received from us.
According to Wycliffe Bible Translators, around 7,000 languages are spoken or signed around the world. At least 2,000 of those languages still need a Bible translation started. A total of 1.5 billion people do not have the full Bible in their language — that’s more people than the entire continent of Africa!
We have it, but what have we done with it? Have your hands handled the Word of life today?
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life” (I Jn 1:1).
Treg Spicer is pastor of Faith Baptist Church – Morgantown, WV. Follow his blog here. We republish his articles by permission.
Photo by Battlecreek Coffee Roasters on Unsplash