Sunday, January 6, 2013

Good Chocolate, Good Books and My Thoughts

Last night a nephew and niece came to dinner bearing gifts. One of the gifts was a box of chocolate brought personally from a recent trip to Germany.
Opening the box, anticipating the delight to my taste buds that chocolate always delivers, my visual senses were captivated by the unique packaging, adding to my appreciation of the chocolate itself.
Packaging is important!

I also read a book yesterday, "Lessons from a Sheep Dog" by W. Phillip Keller.  It is the kind of book that does to my mind what chocolate does for my taste buds.  
I highly recommend this book as a must read....Truth is always true, but 'packaging' is important!  Phillip Keller, as one of my top favorite authors knows how to package the truth in mind-appealing ways.
 
As I was enjoying the chocolates and discussing with my husband some of the insights revealed in my book  -  my thoughts, linking the two together, presented me with an interesting lesson.

Our taste buds respond to whatever is put in the mouth  - as also -- our emotions respond to whatever we put our faith in!
Can we allow  our taste buds and our emotions to rule us ? trusting  them enough to follow their lead implicitly?

If our taste buds signal approval to what is melting in our mouth, is that enough to ensure that the 'substance' in our mouth is safe to eat ?    No, the food could be either unhealthy or it could be poisoned -- neither of which would be discerned by our taste buds.   The only message our taste buds deliver to us is whether or not the 'flavour' is good or bad.

So also with the things we put our faith in.  Offer someone a quick profitable return for an investment and their emotions soar to a high in response to the believed promise. But in following their 'faith', they experience the loss when their investment fails to deliver.  Now, with the object of their faith destroyed, their emotions plummet.  Their emotions only signalled whether something felt good or bad.

While taste buds are a God-given gift without which the consumption of food would be deprived all enjoyment - they must not be allowed to be our sole guide to our dietary needs and our health.
So also our emotions that respond to whatever we 'believe'   cannot be our sole guide to our mental and spiritual health.  God has given us emotions with which to enjoy Him, and the things He has given us "richly to enjoy" (I Tim.6:17)  But as our taste buds are directly connected to what we put into our mouth, so also our emotions are directly connected to what we 'believe'.    If we believe there is a cougar waiting to pounce on us, our emotions register fear.  If we believe there is a great deal waiting for us at the mall, or  that a man or god or saint will help us our emotions respond favourably.

There is a focus on good health today and the media is flooded with information on how to feed our bodies with good food to maximize health. Education  is the key to know when to overrule our taste buds and when to simply enjoy them to the fullest!
But is the focus on spiritual health as strong?   Are we as careful what we put our trust in as we are about what we put in our mouth ?  Or are we still too quick to say .. "That doesn't feel right!"  without allowing our minds to search out whether or not the 'belief' our emotions are responding too is indeed truth or lie,  fact or fiction !
"Oh, taste and see the Lord is good, blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"  
Psalm 34:8 
"How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  
Psalm 119:103 
"And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." 
Romans 12:2


3 comments:

ellen b. said...

I hope to always make sure something I invest in is truth and not fiction. Blessings in the New Year Julie!

Judy said...

Great message for the start of the new year. Let's be sure that our hope is in God this year...not in stuff that will not matter in the end.

Anneliese said...

What an interesting way to compare taste buds and emotions ... both given to us by God .. however not always the final reason for what is best.