A Palette for Truth (Job 34 Meaning)

“The ear tests words as the palette tastes food…”
Job 34:3-4

Have you ever heard of a sommelier?

They’re world-class wine experts. And while I personally don’t drink, their skills illustrate the truth in today’s verse tremendously well!

Sommeliers have an incredible ability to taste wine and tell you virtually everything about it.

They can tell you about the soil composition, how the rocky, well-draining earth stressed the vines just enough to produce grapes with concentrated flavor. They might even be able to pinpoint the year it was harvested, based on the weather patterns that influenced the growing season.

It’s a remarkable skill, honed through years of study and practice. And it’s not so different from what we need to do when it comes to the voices we allow to speak into our lives.

As disciples, need to develop a discerning “palette for truth.” One that can taste the difference between truth and lies, between wisdom and folly, between life and death.

Just like a sommelier trains their senses to pick up on the subtlest flavors in a wine, we need to train our spiritual senses to detect the nuances in the messages we hear.

We need to be able to take a sip of what someone is saying and discern whether it aligns with God’s Word, whether it resonates with the truth of who He says we are.

And just like a sommelier would never settle for a cheap, mass-produced wine, we can’t settle for cheap, mass-produced “wisdom.”

We need to seek out the good stuff, the words that have been carefully crafted and aged in the presence of God. We need to surround ourselves with people who have walked with Jesus, who have weathered the storms of life and come out with a vintage faith, full-bodied and complex.

So let’s become connoisseurs of truth. Let’s develop a palette that can taste the difference between what brings life and what brings death. And let’s be intentional about who we allow to pour into us, knowing that who we listen to is everything.

Because truth matters.