A Sweet Smelling Aroma

I was thawing out my frozen body by the fireplace a few nights ago when I suddenly found myself back at my Grandma and Grandpa Britton's house on Chamberlain Ave. The smell of the fire and the tiny wooden manger scene on the mantle triggered the nostalgic childhood memories and brought tears of joy to my eyes as I thought about my godly heritage and the wonderful Christmases I spent in that house.

I'm sure you're familiar with the flashbacks brought on by various aromas. Holiday scents are wafting through many of our homes these days making us long for the "golden days of yore". Our olfactory nerves are working overtime connecting us to many memories of the holiday season.

It gets me to thinking about the verses in Scripture that talk about our sacrifices being a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord. I wonder if His sense of smell carries Him back to the precious memories of our obedience and sacrifice. I sure hope they aren't smells that cause Him to cringe or turn up his nose.

Ephesians 5:1-2 says, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

These verses are sandwiched between lists of sins and behaviors that are opposite of love and sacrifice. They are full of selfish ambitions and self-serving actions.

As we etch new holiday memories into our lives this Christmas, may they be full of the wonderful smells and aromas that please the Lord. Let's take out the rotten garbage of materialism and selfishness and fill God's nostrils with the freshly-baked-banana-bread scent of sacrifice.

~Rebecca Phillips~