For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who through use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The author of Hebrews is saying that the Christians here should be more mature than they were. They received the “milk”, the principles and foundations of the faith. But, they were supposed to now be at the phase of eating “solid food”. Those who have been Christians for a while should be skilled in the word of righteousness. Their senses should be exercised to discern both good and evil. Exercised means that the believer is using their senses to discern what is right and wrong.
When we hear the word “senses”, the first thing we think of is the 5 physical human senses. But, there are also spiritual counterparts to these senses. In the next few posts, we’ll discuss our spiritual senses - Taste, Hearing, Sight, Smell, Touch.
TASTE
In this post, we’ll discuss the sense of taste. The word English noun taste comes from the Middle eastern verb 'tasten'. This verb means to taste, perceive a flavor, palpate, or feel, experience or feel something, test someone or something, attempt.
Let’s look at some Bible verses that deal with the sense of taste.
1 Peter 2:3 - if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Psalm 34:8 - Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Palm 119:103 - How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
With our physical sense of taste, we try the flavor of food or drink. With our spiritual sense of taste, we experience the various characteristics of God. By experiencing God through His word and through our lives, we are able to see the graciousness of God, His goodness, and His sweetness. By experiencing Him, we draw closer to God.
In general, a person doesn’t eat unless they are hungry or they are craving food. In the same way, once we have a taste of God, we will develop a hunger for Him and His word. With this hunger, we will devour the Word of God, and then as that hunger grows, we will be able to discern what comes from the mouth of God versus the world.