Fragrant Aroma
With two new boys in the house, not only do I have an unlimited supply of sermon illustrations, but plenty of new smells in the house as well. Bath time comes every other night. It is always a blast to turn the water on in the tub and see our oldest (21 months) giggle and jump up and down as he gets ready for splashing and playing. After singing Burt and Ernie’s “Rubber Ducky” 20 plus times and getting water everywhere, its time to get soaped up and rinsed off and then out of the tub and ready for bed. I love the smell of clean; somewhere between coconut and butter. The fragrant aroma of their soap makes them smell clean and fresh as they get their PJ’s on and head to bed. The scent even lingers into the next day as I kiss his head first thing in the morning.
There are a few other new aromas around the house that are not nearly as pleasant. In fact, I am often forced to the use the front of my T-shirt as a makeshift gas mask in order to avoid the instant gag reflex as I change the dirty diapers or clean out the Diaper Genie”; WOW, who knew something so cute could produce something so vile.
God likes the smell of clean too. God told Moses in Exodus 29:18 that the people of Israel were to offer sacrifice unto Him, and that the burnt offering would be a ‘fragrant and soothing aroma to His face.’ It was the smell of clean, it was a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus, His Son, would make many years later (Eph 5:2). The nation of Israel would repent of their sins, ask God’s forgiveness and offer up a sincere sacrifice of repentance and praise to God. It was offered from a clean heart and it smelled great to the Lord.
However, there were times their offering didn’t smell so good. In fact, I bet God had to use some air sanitizer in Heaven to get the stench out. Israel had rejected God’s commandments and was no longer living according to His Word. When they offered sacrifice with an unclean heart, God spoke through Jeremiah the prophet in Chapter 6:19-20 “Because they have not listened to My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it also…. Your burnt offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.” In other words, their sacrifice smelled about as good as my Diaper Genie on trash day. It’s no wonder God rejected it.
God tells the New Testament Church in Hebrews 13:15 that our praise is how we sacrifice unto Him. “Through Jesus let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” We no longer offer a burnt sacrifice but a living sacrifice that praises Him.
The question, which was the same for Israel, is where is our heart? Is our heart clean, having repented of our sins and subsequently fully engaged in a genuine offering of praise? Or is our heart full of envy, strife, judgment, pride and other evidence of worldliness? It is our heart that God observes when we praise His name. It either has a clean fragrant aroma that He draws close to smell and enjoy or it is vile and putrid and He discards with the trash.
As for me, I pray God kisses my head tomorrow morning and lingers a while to enjoy the scent.
