What do you smell like?
Leviticus 1:9, “Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD. “
In giving the requirements the Lord told Moses that sacrifices should be made to bring a soothing aroma. Smell is the strongest sense we have. When we smell a familiar aroma our minds are instantly taken back to a memory we associate with it. Ask any war veteran and they will tell you that when they smell smoke they are instantly taken back in time to the war zone. So it is with me when I smell Lysol my mind automatically goes back to my days in the hospital.
I know that there are some certain smells in your life that cause you to remember days of past, whether good or bad. Maybe the smell of fresh-baked bread takes you back in time to remember a time when your mother would spend all day preparing dinner and the entire family would sit down together. Or maybe like me you remember smelling a freshly baked pie just out of the oven, and running in kitchen to “investigate” the source. Perhaps freshly cut grass reminds you of the summer you turned 13, and you mowed lawns everyday to make extra money for the beach. Whatever you’re memories may be there is nothing that will call them to remembrance like smell.
That is why God told Moses that the Israelites were to offer a soothing aroma before Him, so that God could smell and remember the love of His chosen people. Even in times when they rebelled against God this smell would remind Him of their love. The Apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus offered Himself to God as a “fragrant aroma”, and that we who are called to be like Christ should also be a pleasing aroma to God. Ephesians 5:1, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children ; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. “
When Christ offered Himself before God as a fragrant aroma the love that He had for us and for God was shown, and as we respond to that love our offerings become a pleasing aroma to God, and will draw others to Him.
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Father, I thank You for sending Your Son to be a pleasing aroma before You on my behalf, and I ask that You help me become the right odor to please You and draw others to Your side. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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The image above can be found at:
http://biblewalk.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/the-burnt-offering/
Yes, You Can Ministry 