A Sweet Smell

I don't know how many of you like sweet smells but I love them and I thought it would be interesting to see what God says about sweet smells.  I love the smell of a beauty bush, they are hard to find but their smell is out of this world, also gardenias, I had gardenias on a white Bible for my wedding bouquet.  Roses have a special smell but have you noticed that all flowers do not have a sweet smell, some even stink, I think, but their beauty over rides the smell. Some have no odor at all.

John 12:3  "Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."  I have never smelled spikenard but it must have been wonderful. Maybe you have, I would love to get a faint smell of it just to know what she anointed His feet with.

Hosea 14:7  "Those who dwell under His shadow shall return: they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine, Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon."  The new Christian will have a scent about them that reminds us of new wine.  The smell of grapes fresh off the vine is great and the juice is even greater.  Their character will be fresh like new wine.  What a great way to express the character of a new Christian.  I like that, don't you?  I want to have a character that has a special aroma about me of freshness.

Ephesians 5:1,2  "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma."  Our offerings and the sacrifices that we make to God are a sweet smelling aroma.  We are also told in Revelation 8:4 that our prayers arise like the smoke of incense before God.  I love incense, I guess you could say that anything that smells good I like.  To think that my prayers rise before God like sweet smelling incense is encouraging and should want to make me pray more, shouldn't it?

Well, those are some of the sweet smells that the Bible writers talk about and we can apply most of it to our lives, the smell of spikenard, which someday I am going to see if I can find some and the smell of new wine, I love the smell of fresh grape juice and to have a fresh aroma about us like that for a new Christian is really special, I think.

And of course when our prayers rise to God like sweet smelling incense makes me want to light an incense when I pray and watch it go up before God.  I don't think God expects us to do that but it would be interesting to do.  I don't want to make light of anything that we do but sometimes an example of some of the things that God expects of us has more meaning when we make it real before out eyes.  Will you try to be a sweet smelling savor by being a great Christian in your life?  I think God would appreciate all that we do to be an example to others, don't you?  I want to be.  Grandma Joan