What Is a Sweet Aroma to God?
Your aroma matters.
Advertising teaches it is shameful to have any body odor, so they have come up with a plethora of synthetic goods to fix us. If we buy their products, we avoid embarrassment by having no odor (except theirs).
I think you’ll agree when I say the sweet scent of an infant, the earthly smell of a child, and the fresh scent of wind-blown laundry delight us. Sadly, each is being replaced by synthetic laundry products that make us all smell the same.
Did you know your scent, exclusive to you, goes before you? An infant recognizes his mother by her scent. Synthetic smells bring confusion to the brain by erasing our unique aromas!
Your Destiny Is to Be a Sweet Smelling Aroma
So what’s my point? If Jesus is your Saviour – your destiny is to be the sweet aroma of Christ. Because He is God, your scent highlights something individual about His personality.
When I was younger, I believed God didn’t like me and only found me acceptable if I was miserable. Desperate to appease this angry god, I tried with all my might to be like Jesus.
There’s just one problem. The harder I tried, the more I failed, and the deeper I sank into despair and depression. I knew all the right answers but was unable to perform what I knew. Reading about the Levitical sacrifices God demanded of Israel seemed to prove God was vengeful.
Over the years, as I looked at Jesus – who is beautiful and kind – I learned to rest in His love, I found He is the mirror image of God the Father. As my fears and striving lessened, my peace increased.
But wait. Walking with Jesus never gets old, for He always has something beautiful and fresh for us. This week I’m in Leviticus and was fascinated by burnt offerings being a sweet savor to God.
What was that about?
As my fears and striving lessened, my peace increased.
What is a Sweet Savor?
As I studied, to my amazement, I learned sweet savor is used 36 times in the Old Testament – mainly referring to the Levitical offerings.
Moving into the New Testament, I read: “For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish” (2Co 2:15 KJV).
Wow! I am to smell like Jesus; as I do, I become a sweet scent to God.
Think about some of your favorite scents. Coming home after a hard day, you open the door and the aroma of fresh bread welcomes and comforts you. Or the open door allows the scent of cinnamon in the apple pie to spill out, drawing you inside to experience a delicious taste. Or as you hit the sidewalk, the scent of onions and pot roast wafts on the breeze, causing you to pause. Taking a deep breath, you feel energized and spring up the steps into your home, knowing a wonderful meal of love awaits you.
God created scents to bless us and fill us with hope and comfort; provide pleasure and even joy. And He created aroma to be in motion – spilling over onto others and drawing them into its embrace.
God created scents to bless us and fill us with hope and comfort; provide pleasure and even joy.
First, Find Yourself at Home in Christ
The sweet aromas are the overflow of creativity that occurs within your home. When you allow Jesus to dwell in you and to release His aroma within you – that sweet aroma spills over as you live and move and find yourself at home in Christ.
The Levitical sacrifices aren’t about appeasing an angry God, but point to Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed for sin. As individuals bowed in humility and worship, their sacrifice was a sweet smell to God, honoring Christ, the Saviour who brings peace between God and man.
Jesus, our sacrifice, is the Living Water who makes us thirsty. As we drink, He quenches our thirst and brings us life.
Jesus is the Living Bread who came down from heaven. We cannot buy or earn this bread – it is freely given to those who open themselves to receive His mercy and grace. And like the scent of freshly baked bread that draws us to eat, the aroma of Christ draws us to partake of Him – the Living Bread – who gives us life and embraces us with His aroma.
The secret to contentment lies in allowing Jesus to take up residence in your home and offering all you have and are to His touch, His presence. By becoming a living sacrifice, you and I have the incredible privilege to become the sweet aroma of Christ to our hurting world, to our families and friends. But we also have the joy of pleasing God the Father.
The Levitical sacrifices aren’t about appeasing an angry God, but point to Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed for sin.
Step Into Your Destiny
Think about it! By presenting your body as a living sacrifice – you smell like Christ who dwells in you. The open door of your heart causes His aroma to spill over into the atmosphere around you, making others hungry and thirsty, and delighting the nostrils of God.
Today, step into your destiny. Fall in love with Jesus. When He asks to enter a room of your life, offer it to Him. His touch brings healing, life, satisfaction; as His sweet aroma is released, pleasuring the Father, you will experience joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Now thanks be to God
who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us makes manifest the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. (2 Cor 2:14-15)
