Sweet Perfume
Do your words and actions leave people (and God) with a pleasant reaction?
Verse of the Day
“But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.”
Today’s Devotional
Have you ever considered that you are a captive to God? What comes to your mind when you think of freedom versus captivity? My guess is that we would all prefer freedom if given the choice. But today’s verse tells us to thank God because He has made us His captives.
If we keep reading, we see that this captivity to God leads us to follow the footsteps of Jesus, and that those steps walk us into triumph. Victory. The same victory Jesus had over death. Also the victory of dying to self.
I don’t know if you have ever experienced bondage by anything in this world, but I have. And I would not wish that kind of misery on anyone. But I can tell you that as I walk in obedience to God, the freedom I now experience is beyond the words I have to describe it. I will take being a captive in God’s Kingdom all day everyday over where I’ve been.
In freedom from worldly bondage and in captivity to God, the appropriate response is to live the kind of life that invites others to Jesus, so each person can receive His love, healing, grace, forgiveness, and purpose. When we live in this way, we are perfuming the heavens. Our life becomes a fragrant offering to God.
Let’s talk for a moment about God and the sense of smell. I don’t believe that God has the same five senses that we do, but it appears that God can smell. “On sixteen different occasions in the book of Leviticus, an “aroma” is mentioned as something pleasing to the Lord.” (gotquestions.com) In Genesis 8:21, when God smelled the pleasing aroma of Noah’s sacrifice after the flood, God promised to never again destroy the earth by flooding. In Exodus 30, there is a specific incense that was to be made by a perfumer. This incense was considered holy and was only to be used in front of the ark of the covenant, and was never to be used for personal use. Two of the three gifts that the wise men brought to the infant Jesus were fragrant in nature. In John 12:3, Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with a very expensive perfume. Lastly, Ephesians 5:2 says that Jesus gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
So God can smell.
Which makes me ask, how do I smell to God? Is my life a pleasing aroma to my Father?
Since much of the aroma that is pleasing to God revolves around sacrifice, let’s look at a few more verses:
- But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. (Psalms 50:23)
- But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you (Jonah 2:9)
- Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. (Psalms 107:22)
Gratitude is our sacrifice to God. Offering God our thanks is a pleasing aroma to our Father. How do you want to smell to God?
Today’s Gratitude Challenge 1: We discussed on a prior day that the sense of smell can trigger memories. Have you ever taken time to thank God for your ability to have memory at all? We can recall prior events in our lives and relive them, simply by bringing them to mind- or because we see a photo, or someone mentions the event, or if a smell triggers our brain. That’s pretty amazing if we take the time to think about it. When was the last time you thanked God for your ability to remember and for the many wonderful memories that you have?
Today’s Gratitude Challenge 2: I was scrolling through the pictures of my phone yesterday looking for something. So many life events of the last year flashed before my eyes. Specifically, I stopped and looked at the pictures of when I took my daughter shopping for a wedding dress. Are you grateful for cameras? Are you grateful that moments in your life are captured and can then be enjoyed again and again? Are you grateful for the people who use their God-given abilities to create the technology that allows many of us to have high quality cameras on our phones, therefore almost always at our disposal?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Based on where you are today, how do you think you smell to God?
If gratitude is a pleasing aroma to God, how can you offer Him your heartfelt thanks today?
Who or what are you captive to? How do you know?
Do your words and actions leave people (and God) with a pleasant reaction? How could you improve in this area?
How and why are you thankful to God for your ability to remember and for the many wonderful memories that you have?
Are you grateful for cameras? For the technology that makes it possible to take pictures? Why, specifically?