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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Fragrance (10/24/05)
The sweet aroma of a woman’s perfume. The heart-warming scent of homemade cookies. The fresh whiff of newly-cut grass. These things are all fragrant to us. They bring us life, let us know that there is goodness, that there is still beauty in the world. They are part of the everyday miracles we so often pass by. What would life be like if flowers didn’t smell so pleasant or newly washed skin so clean? Isn’t it amazing how one little whiff can bring so much enjoyment?

Did you ever stop to think what is fragrant to the Lord? What is it that makes Him stop and breathe deeply? What is it that causes Him to inhale, taking in all that He can? He gives us a glimpse in His word. He says that our prayers are as a sweet incense to Him. Our prayers, a sweet incense to the God of the universe? Pretty incredible, isn’t it? To think that we could affect Him like that. You can make the Creator of the stars and the seas turn His head, close His eyes, and draw in.

In Ephesians 5:2, we find that a life of love is a fragrant offering to the Lord. Philippians 4:18 shows us that gifts that are given to the work of God are also a “fragrant offering, pleasing to God”. In fact, 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 tells us that God through us “spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” We are the smell of Jesus to the world. God wants us all to carry within His sweet fragrance. That is not a fragrance that we could manufacture on our own. It is the clean, fresh smell of a heart made new by the Holy Spirit. He takes our old, rotten stench and changes it to sweet perfume. No work of ours could ever do that. And then He takes us to others that they may catch the sweet work He has done in our lives and turn to Him as well. He plays no favorites. He wants everyone to breathe in deeply the life He has to offer.

The next time you detect a pleasant smell, remember that your life lived in Jesus is the same to God. He delights in your prayers, in your gifts, in your life of love to Him. If He lives in you, your whole being is pleasing to Him. He is thrilled to have you as His child, and He wants you to know that. Just as Mary came and poured her perfume upon His feet, so can we can express our love for Him in the same way with our lives.
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This article has been read 805 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
terri tiffany
11/01/05
Very nice thoughts! You wrote this very well. One suggestion is to change 'things' to a more specific noun.
dub W
11/01/05
Interesting devotion, good for a Sunday School lesson opener.
Laurie Glass 
11/02/05
Nice devotional. Thanks for sharing.
Nina Phillips
11/02/05
Yes, this is a nice devotional peice. Thank you for sharing it with us. God bless ya, littlelight
ese Adonkie
11/02/05
good food for thought.makes the reader pause and ponder on the words.
Phyllis Inniss 
11/02/05
You left a lovely fragance behind in your message. Your article was spiritually inspired for passing on to the reader.
Jan Ackerson
11/03/05
This is a beautiful thought: "...You can make the Creator of the stars and the seas turn His head, close His eyes, and draw in..."