“Beauty, Fragrance, Flavor”

     I do not understand how anyone can see, smell and taste a beautiful summer peach without knowing that a wise and loving God exists to create such wonder.

    “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood that the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead” (Romans 1:20).

    If our Lord were a different person, He could have made us with no need for food.  Moreover, He could have created food with no fragrance or flavor.  Being who He is, however, the Lord made us with both the necessity for food, and the capacity to enjoy it.  “God… giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (I Timothy 6:17).

     The aforementioned peach, among countless other gifts of sustenance, reveals the Divine intention for humanity that we far more than merely exist.  “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  There is no asceticism in Biblical Christianity wherein we seek a life without beauty, fragrance and flavor in order to achieve godliness.  On the contrary, enjoyment of God’s many gifts comprises a vital aspect of genuine holiness whereby acknowledgement of His unspeakably generous heart elicits loving response and appreciation.  “He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them that fear Him” (Psalm 111:4-5).

    A peach is a relatively small thing – unless it happens to be the creation of One who made the sight, the fragrance, and the taste for the enjoyment of those to whom He also gave eyes, noses, and taste buds.  Then it becomes a gift of love to be enjoyed with acknowledgement, praise, thanksgiving, and the determination to respond in kind to a Father who delights in the giving of good gifts to His trusting children.  Countless other expressions of God’s love for us provide opportunity for a life truly lived, based upon a heart truly aware that…

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”

(James 1:17)