Senior Living

Have you ever recalled a memory triggered by a particular fragrance’s smell? You and I were created with an incredible odor memory.

A common example is the fragrance of Old Spice aftershave. It may remind you of your dad. Another might be a cooking smell that brings back memories of grandma’s kitchen.

The smell of suntan lotion can remind us of our younger years at the beach or the pool.

For me, every time I smell cedar chips or a cedar chest, I remember being at my uncle’s Lake Marion lake house in the 60s.

2 undeniable truths about odors are mysterious:

1. A pleasing aroma is always welcomed.

2. A pleasant fragrance is almost impossible to describe.

You can only say that something smells like something else. But you really can’t define the odor itself with a universal adjective that means the same thing to everybody.

At least 24 times in the Old Testament God’s people offered Him burnt sacrifices on an altar.

We find the accompanying phrase about the smell being “a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”

What does that mean? Why did God want us to know what fragrances pleased Him?

I want to suggest to you that the fragrance alone was not what pleased God. What it reminded God of was how wonderful it was that His people loved, trusted, and obeyed Him.

Paul says to those of us who are believers in Christ Jesus in 2nd Corinthians 2:15, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ.”

A pleasing aroma is always welcomed. In a world filled with so much that stinks, let’s be a sweet-smelling fragrance to God that reminds Him of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Next week: What happened on this date on your time line?