Physical Senses - A Means of Discernment

Every Christian can sharpen his discernment by becoming more intimately acquainted with the Word of God. Paul exhorts us to get past feeding on the milk of the word, as infants feed, who cannot discern the world around them. He tells the recipients of Hebrews that their lack of feeding on the meat of the Word has caused them to have delayed growth, dull spiritual hearing and sluggish insight (Heb. 5:11, AMP). This would be similar to feeding a child food which doesn’t have enough nutrients for him to grow: he’d become malnourished and his body would not function properly.

In Hebrews 5:13-14 Paul elaborates more specifically the effects of being malnourished in the Word: our thoughts, purposes and actions remain infant-like and immature. This is because we can only think and do as the Word instructs to the degree we have it inside of our hearts and minds. If there is no foundation of righteousness within us, we can neither live righteously nor discern what is righteous and what is evil. However, the person who is filled with the Word, and is daily being transformed by it, discerns through every sensory organ in his body (Heb 5:14). In other Words, once the physical body is given over to the life of Christ and continues to feed on the meat of the Word, it can be used to discern the world around us. If we brush up against something we might discern either evil or good from our ‘touch’ perception. If we see something, we can discern evil or good with our ‘sight’ perception. Understand that our complete physical bodies are part of the gift He’s given us to not only live on this earth, but to discern the world around us for our benefit and protection.

Another requirement of discernment is to love! Discernment is not based on suspicion – it’s not looking for trouble or trying to pick out people and circumstances that can be fixed. The truth of the Word and discernment work hand in hand to examine and approve the things that are of God and dismiss those that aren’t. That's the job of discerning - to approve the things that are of God. It's not a personal affront to anyone when we discern, but a necessary element of the Christian walk and one of God's ways of protecting us.

The book of Philippians tells us that our love will abound to a greater degree as we grow in the Word and discernment. In other Words, sharper discernment is a means of excelling in love. Why? Because as we grow in the Word we grow in the character of God and we are able to approve and promote the things of God in others and in our world around us (Php 1:9-11).

I pray that your love for the Word of God will grow; that you’ll have a passion to seek Him through His Word. This is a sure fire plan to spread the love of God by discerning good and evil; approving of what He approves!