The human body is remarkable. I suppose everyone who has one would agree that it is a marvelous creation. Medicine is continually uncovering new secrets of its amazing operations.
We all know that our bodies are fueled by important organs like the heart, lungs, and brain. However, some of the body’s most vital work is done by a body part you might not expect — your taste buds, a set of microscopic organs that do more than help us taste our food. Scientists believe human taste buds help protect us from poisoning. These microscopic sensors tell our brains that a food is safe to eat, encouraging us to consume sweet sources of calories and energy and alerting us to spit out bitter or unpalatable substances that could make us sick.
It turns out that our taste buds work so hard that their cells die off quickly, which is why the body regenerates them about every two weeks. However, taste buds aren’t all replaced at once; on any given day, we say goodbye to about 10% of the tiny sensors, while 20% to 30% are in the process of developing into mature replacements, leaving us with about 60% of the buds active to analyze the food we consume.
That’s OK because there are a lot of them – the average adult has between 2,000 and 10,000 taste buds. The number decreases with age, so kids have more taste buds than adults do. (That might explain why so few kids like lima beans.)
Conscience – The Taste Buds of the Soul
It’s been said that conscience is what separates humans from animals. It’s sometimes described as a person’s morals, ethics, scruples, heart, or character, and it is the most compelling evidence of the human soul.
Billy Graham said, “Conscience is the moral judiciary of the soul.” It does not create laws; it warns of the existence of laws. Our conscience tells us that there is a preexisting moral law.
Just like our taste buds, our conscience is given to us to protect us from danger. We use it to discern between right and wrong, good and evil. However, like our taste buds, our conscience is susceptible to damage—it can become seared and even die.
The writer of Hebrews warned of an evil conscience (Heb 10:22). In Titus 1:15, Paul warned about a defiled conscience. When a conscience is corrupted, it can no longer point out God's moral law. Like a person who has lost the ability to taste, a soul that no longer feels the prods of conscience is in perilous danger of eternal harm.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! ...You will go up in flames like straw and hay! You have rejected the teaching of the holy LORD God All-Powerful of Israel. Now your roots will rot, and your blossoms will turn to dust." ~ Isaiah 5:20,24
That is a pretty graphic depiction of what happens when a person rejects the prodding of their own conscience. It also describes what happens to a nation that has lost its conscience.
There is nothing more dangerous than the act of hardening one’s heart. When the conscience is seared it loses the ability to sense the calling of the Spirit that saves us. There is a point beyond which someone can become so hardened that they can no longer be saved – a terrible, dangerous point. Only God knows where that line is in a person's life.
There's Hope
Isaiah was speaking to the nation of Israel at the darkest point in its history. Yet, amid that darkness came some of the most incredible promises of the coming Messiah. In the darkness of impending judgment, God declared His plan of redemption...
"Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." ~ Isaiah 53:5
This is the one true cure for a dying conscience – Christ’s redemptive work in us starts by healing our conscience. It doesn’t matter how deeply a man or woman has descended into sin; God’s power is more than sufficient to restore them.
No sin, no corruption, no devil in Hell or sinner on earth can hold back the hand of God when He works to convert a man. When God omnipotently says, “I will,” no one can say to Him, “You will not.”
"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him."
Psalm 34:8
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