There is a famous story about blind men touching different parts of an elephant, and coming to different conclusions. One man touched the elephant’s side, and declared it was like a wall. Another touched the tusk and thought it was a spear. Touching the trunk led one man to declare it was like a snake, while another touched a leg and decided elephant's must be like a tree. Finally, the last man touched the tail and declared elephants must be like a rope. The point is that when we only have a small piece of the puzzle, we may come to the wrong conclusion.
This also shows the limitations of using only one of our senses. The blind men could not see that there was much more to the elephant, and based their opinion only on the part they were offered. This could also be true of other senses. If you could only use your sense of touch and was offered a rose, your opinion of the flower would very likely depend on whether you grabbed petals or thorns. The more of our senses that are involved, the better informed we will be.
As much as our five senses are helpful when they all work together, the most important ‘sense’ is one rarely discussed - the heart. Our sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell can tell us much about the world, but only the heart can determine what we truly believe about the world. In fact, the heart can override and overrule the other five senses.
The best example of this is the story Jesus tells of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (found in Luke chapter 10). The Samaritan’s heart overrode his senses. The man lying on the side of the road was filthy, beaten, bloody, naked – and maybe worst of all to a Samaritan – a Jew! Yet the Samaritan’s compassion – his heart – overrode the other senses to aid a neighbor in need.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
The Lord sees the heart - just speaking it is not enough. Proclaiming ‘Jesus is Lord’ is great, but your heart must believe Him to be the one and only Son of God! The senses can all agree:
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8)
#LoveMatters