***Hey it's Mark Lanier here with your video thought for the day you know what these are
delicious that's what they are these little lance whole grain sandwich crackers with peanut butter
are half of an incredible explosion for taste in your mouth the other half coke zero
in a cold glass bottle now this will set your taste buds a tingling
why do I bring that up on a week where I’m talking about a meta-narrative in the bible of
marriage well let me tell you why one of the things I love about Jewish Christian thought
and it's found in the Jewish scriptures it's also found therefore in the Christian scriptures
since the Christian scriptures include the Jewish scriptures but also in the new testament as well
it's the idea that that you and I as human beings are fully human and by that I mean we're not
uh what Plato would have described as a soul imprisoned within some fleshly body
we are entirely our body our feelings our thoughts our uh emotions everything
go into making us fully human and fully alive and that's a biblical thought and that means that
the the things like your taste buds are the the things that are pleasurable in life
are actually gifts of God to be used in the right way or experienced in the right way
I mean I can eat really tasty things that are healthy and good for me and sometimes an extra
treat of course I can always take it a bit too far and eat absolute garbage all the time and
destroy my body as a result good things can be abused if not used in a good fashion
but this is a concept that has deep roots in the picture of marriage as well so there's a book
in the Old Testament it's called the Song of Solomon and during the rabbinical days of Jesus
this book was viewed as part of scripture but also part that would cause the rabbis if they read the
scroll to wash their hands afterwards because it's a fairly poetic yet graphic description of sexual
attraction and sexual love between a husband and wife and uh or a bride and a bridegroom
looking forward to being a husband and wife and it's it's kind of written like a play
almost it's in various acts and and it's a marvelous read but what I want to talk about is
that the idea that human sense and sensuality is actually part of God's
making of women and men God made us to be creatures not just with five senses
but to use those five senses for good and also to enjoy those five senses
so we don't eat simply for nourishment we eat with joy in mind we don't simply smell
to see if there's fire we can work on having wonderful smells around us that that
incense and things that smell really good we don't just touch tactile to see if something is there
touch is also something that that can can bless us and and make us feel good and release endorphins
in the brain and serotonin and all sorts of things this is all part of our being human but it's
rooted in this meta-narrative of marriage because it's part of us being in relationship with God
the psalmist says taste and see that the lord is good those are two of your senses this idea that
we should experience life in ways that that are healthy but also enjoyable is part of what God
has made us for and what a part of what he wants us to experience in our relationship with him
so my thought for the day don't feel guilty over the pleasures of this life give thanks to God for
the pleasures of this life and try to use them in a Godly way not in excess not in abuse and
not outside of the world in which he's created it to be used and in that you're a step closer
in your relationship with him and the joy that it brings and that is your video thought for the day