The Aroma

UV 3528/10000 The Aroma

 

And walk continually  in love ( that is, value one another- practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others), just as Christ also love you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God (slain for you, so that it became) a sweet fragrance.

Ephesians 5 v 2

 

                      We should sniff ourselves daily to check what is the smell our character, our deeds, our lives, our testimony are exuding all the time.  A burnt sacrifice in the Old Testament days gave out a sweet smelling aroma.  When we burn with zeal for God and in the name of Jesus, we offer our lives, our daily routine, our work,  our words, our actions and relationships to the Lord, we begin to smell like roses in the nostrils of the Lord.   The uni-verse states that we need to continually, consistently, constantly walk in love, not just when we are feeling good, when things are fine.  We need to respect one another, understand and feel the pain of others and reach out to them to help, to heal, to pray, to counsel, to comfort. 

 

                    While the world’s philosophy is WIIFM or What’s In It for me, we should be inspired by the example of Jesus who made His whole life a sweet smelling sacrifice to God, the Father.  WIIFM is replaced by HCIBO or How can I benefit others or how can I serve God better?    Like a bottle of fragrant perfume when broken fills the room in which it lies, we should carry the aroma of Christ wherever we go, in whatever we think, speak and do.  The use of the olfactory  or smell- related metaphor  is to show that our faith and its expression  needs to be real, grounded, impactful. 

 

                      In sharp contrast, we should also not think, say or do anything that is offensive smelling or  produces disgust or revulsion in others.   If our lives are pleasing to God, it will be a blessing for others.  Even our enemies or foes will not find anything terribly bad to say about us.   They might at best say that we are other worldly, impractical, godly or  over spiritual.   The waves of an aroma always rise upward.  Likewise, the praise or appreciation and glory for our lives should rise continually upward to the Lord and not remain with us.