During my lunch break today I stopped in a parking lot that was full of the sweet fragrance of honey suckle. What a distinctive (and I think, appealing) aroma. It's pretty remarkable how strong the smell was. The plants were probably 50 feet from my car when I first picked up the scent. I couldn't help but walk over and get a direct lungful from some of the clustered blossoms. No wonder the bees swarm to the flowers. You know we probably could have lived in a world that didn't have floral fragrance. I'm glad the Lord designed it in. We have a new granddaughter...she was born last week and her parents named her Caroline Rose. My Mom cleverly gave a vase with three lovely roses to greet her arrival and honor her name. Those roses also had a rich velvety smell. Sometimes I think the Lord uses all the senses when He observes us. We know He sees us and we know He's keenly aware of our thoughts...He certainly hears every Word...and I'm grateful to feel His touch, especially for help and healing.
Here's an interesting passage from Genesis 8:20-21 about Noah (after the flood)
"Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done."
Aaron was charged with burning incense morning and night on the altar:
Exodus 30:7,8 "Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come."
There was even a special aroma that was to be like a perfume that only the Lord could enjoy:
Exodus 30:34-37 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. "
....Remember that one of the gifts of the 3 Wise Men to Jesus was Frank-incense!
We are to be a sweet aroma for the Lord, as well:
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."
The sweet smell of honeysuckle will only last for a few weeks but we can be fragrant for Christ all our days.
blessings,
Rob Smith
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