Have you ever walked through a rose garden when it’s in bloom or sat on a bench surrounded by gardenias?
Some years back my mother was living in Dillon, MT where we lived. She had moved into a duplex and right outside the back door was a tall lilac bush. Each time she opened the door to walk out she would be greeted with the smell of lilac. She told me that she remembered being a small girl and smelling lilacs at her home.
That smell, that sweet smell, reminded her of home!
Our sense of smell is very strong – we can smell a favorite food cooking and our mouth will water, even if we have just eaten. Or the smell of vinegar and cleaning products can make us wince.
What type of smell do we emit?
No, I’m not asking if you’ve bathed recently or what type of cologne you wear but I’m asking about your life.
“You may prepare sacrifices to give thanks in any of these three ways. Bring your sacrifice to a priest, and he will take it to the bronze altar. 9 Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, the priest will lay part of it on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. 10 The rest of this sacrifice is for the priests; it is very holy because it was offered to me.” Leviticus 2:8-10 CEV
Offerings of thanksgiving to God were to be a mixture of fine flour, olive oil and incense. And when they were burned by the priest, the offering had a sweet smell that was pleasing to the Lord.
Is our life one with the sweet smell of thanksgiving? Do we spend more time thanking God for His goodness and His love than we do complaining about how things could/should/would be better “if only”? As Christians – Christ like ones – our lives should be an offering that pleases the Father.
“Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. 2 Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.” Ephesians 5:1-2 CEV
We are to be like Christ and our lives should be like His, a sacrifice that pleases God. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God. Just as the priests presented the sacrifices to the Lord and it pleased Him, we should offer our lives as a pleasing sacrifice.
And it’s not only the Father who notices that our lives are a sacrifice, those around us will notice too.
“I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume. 15 In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone.” II Corinthians 2:14-15 CEV
As we enter this week of Easter I desire that my life “smells sweet” with praise and thanksgiving to the Father and forgiveness and love to those I meet.