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Have you had a smell or another sense bring you into a sudden memory? 
There is a certain flavour of sour cream 'n onion chip that whenever I have it I am 10 years old again and in my room in the house, I grew up listening to Steven Curtis Chapman on my cd (or was it cassette?) where I ate a very large bag of sour cream 'n onion chips. And, interestingly, on the rare occasion that a song from that album is played somewhere, I immediately can remember the smell and taste of those chips. Ha!  
It is fascinating how God has crafted our senses and memories to work together! 
The last couple of Sundays we have talked about how God inspired to write The Revelation in an Apocalyptic literary style. This vivid genre has the potential to make an imprint on one's memory and gives the message the opportunity to live on inside someone. 
In his book on Revelation called "Reversed Thunder," Eugene Peterson points out that God crafted the message of Revelation to engage our "Sensory Imagination."  
Consider your five senses and The Revelation: 

  • Sight - We are constantly invited to see what John is seeing, figures of weakness and strength, rainbows, crystal waters, and sparkling jewels. Best of all, we are invited to especially behold Jesus! 
  • Sound - John's quill captures on parchment all kinds of sounds for us to imagine - rushing waters, enormous crowds, the voice of Jesus! "Let him who has an ear hear!"
  • Touch - It's not hard to imagine how the things we're seeing and hearing also feel. Earthquakes, hailstorms, falling down to worship, and of course the moment "He (Jesus) placed His right hand on me" - wow! (1.17)
  • Smell - While some things are destroyed in fire and we can imagine the char and smoke of ruin, we also are invited to imagine our prayers being a pleasing aroma like incense that delights our Father.
  • Taste - With vivid language, we learn that something is repulsive to God (3.16), we hear of some things that taste sweet and others that offer an unpleasant bitterness. How lovely that things culminate in the imagery of a feast! 

As we journey through this exciting book (and I hope you will read and re-read it many times over the next months!) let's take time to allow the descriptive language to prompt the imagination into the sensory experiences on offer. 
What is God doing while we allow the Spirit to engage our sensory imagination? 
He is imprinting the message of The Revelation into us! 
He is imprinting Jesus into us! 
As much as I might like Sweden or a potato chip, I'd rather have Jesus!
How about you? 
Pastor Mike