Pastor's Note - January 27 
This last week, like many others, my family caught Covid. In this, I was thankful for many things. I was thankful for Josh Lewis, who was able to fill in and preach! I was thankful for a comfortable home in which to quarantine. I was thankful for a family that I love spending time around. I was thankful for vaccines and very mild symptoms. I was thankful for a church that prays for one another – and I know many of you have received the support and prayers of the church. I was thankful for a sovereign God who orders all of our days. I was also thankful that I didn’t lose my sense of taste or smell! Many others have lost some of those senses, which must be an odd experience. Recently, someone made a valid and interesting spiritual connection to loss of taste. They noted that when we lose our sense of taste, we still eat. We don’t necessarily do so for pleasure or enjoyment, at that point. We eat not because we enjoy the experience, but simply because we need to. We know that consuming food is a biological necessity, even if it isn’t a pleasing sensation due to loss of taste. I think that’s a spiritual metaphor. If God’s Word is the bread of life – and Jesus says it is in Matthew 4:4 – then we need to eat, to consume God’s Word, to maintain spiritual health. Without it we wither and die. So we must takin God’s Word, even when we may not have a “taste” for it. There may be times in our lives where Scripture doesn’t necessarily “taste” good – just as food may not taste pleasing in certain cases of Covid. Yet we still need to eat. We still need to read, hear, think about, meditate on, and be changed by the Word of God. That is a spiritual necessity. We are often too driven by our feelings and emotions – giving up on things that don’t immediately provide a positive sensation. Yet not all things that are good for us will immediately feel good or pleasing. Sometimes, taking in the Word of God won’t be fun or pleasing at all. But if we value our spiritual health, and we are to grow in the image of Christ, then we must take in His word, regardless of how we feel about it. And we trust and know that the Word of God will be our bread of life – even when we have no taste for it.