Day 76: The Sweet Sweet Fragrance of God's Love
Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14 - 17
From out of the background came these desperate pleas: "Hold on a
minute, will you please slow down, you are moving too fast, you are
trying too hard, you are going to set off the smoke detectors, why don't
you take a chill pill, why don't you take the time to just read the
recipe, stop and smell the smoke in the kitchen because it is just my guess but I am pretty sure something is surely burning." These
anguished pleas came from my Mom when one fine day I decided that I
could do a better job than she could making breakfast. It was a
Mother's day, I was down in the kitchen, and even if I ended up smoking
everybody out of the house - Mom was getting breakfast in bed!
Everything was everywhere. Egg shells were spread across the kitchen.
Pancake mix spread and splattered all over the cupboards. Big blotches
of butter were all over the stove where it refused to be shaken off the
fork and into the frying pan. I hammered and hammered the side of the
pan but the butter refused to budge. The burners were up full and the butter that did end up in the pan was splattering everywhere on me. I was a mass of frustration and my voice got louder and louder. The
kitchen was now smelling like old stale grease, burning toast (I set it
way too high), and burning eggs. My eyes were watering, my nose was assailed with nothing my Mom would've made.
My Mom eventually came to my rescue. The kitchen was a smoke filled disaster area and I was in tears, not from the smoke, but because I felt like I let my Mom down on her special day. I looked at her and observed "You always make it look
so easy and smell so nice." She just smiled back, hugged me and thanked me
for trying before we set ourselves to the task of cleaning my best
efforts up. Nowadays, I think all of us would agree that the sense of
smell has a strong power to vividly bring back memories, and images of
people and places and special times in our lives. The sense of smell is
very definitely more important than we realize. It is a powerful means of communication.
The Apostle Paul writes to countless generations of believers and
gentiles alike: 'For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who
are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma
from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who
is adequate for these things?' (verses 15 and 16)
God created
us with many special abilities we call senses. Smell is probably the
least appreciated but potentially the most powerful. We communicate with
the outside world through our senses. Without smell, taste becomes
limited. When combined, we are are able to enjoy an almost limitless
array flavors and fragrances. God enjoys fragrances too. Especially the
sweet fragrance of love that arose from His Son Jesus' sacrifice for us
at Calvary. However, it did not end there. When we seek to extend our own senses of smell from our worldly kitchen toward the heavenly
banquet God has already prepared for us in heaven, others will want to
know just where God's kitchen is.
Let Us Pray: Creator God, open our
eyes that we may see, open our ears that we may hear, awaken our noses
that we may smell, open our mouths that we may taste all that is good
which comes first from You. Let our lives become the very sweetest of
fragrances that draws others to Your heavenly kitchen. Let our lives
touch others with the sweet fragrance of love emanating from the love of
Your Son Jesus Christ.
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Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14 - 17
From out of the background came these desperate pleas: "Hold on a minute, will you please slow down, you are moving too fast, you are trying too hard, you are going to set off the smoke detectors, why don't you take a chill pill, why don't you take the time to just read the recipe, stop and smell the smoke in the kitchen because it is just my guess but I am pretty sure something is surely burning." These anguished pleas came from my Mom when one fine day I decided that I could do a better job than she could making breakfast. It was a Mother's day, I was down in the kitchen, and even if I ended up smoking everybody out of the house - Mom was getting breakfast in bed!
Everything was everywhere. Egg shells were spread across the kitchen. Pancake mix spread and splattered all over the cupboards. Big blotches of butter were all over the stove where it refused to be shaken off the fork and into the frying pan. I hammered and hammered the side of the pan but the butter refused to budge. The burners were up full and the butter that did end up in the pan was splattering everywhere on me. I was a mass of frustration and my voice got louder and louder. The kitchen was now smelling like old stale grease, burning toast (I set it way too high), and burning eggs. My eyes were watering, my nose was assailed with nothing my Mom would've made.
My Mom eventually came to my rescue. The kitchen was a smoke filled disaster area and I was in tears, not from the smoke, but because I felt like I let my Mom down on her special day. I looked at her and observed "You always make it look so easy and smell so nice." She just smiled back, hugged me and thanked me for trying before we set ourselves to the task of cleaning my best efforts up. Nowadays, I think all of us would agree that the sense of smell has a strong power to vividly bring back memories, and images of people and places and special times in our lives. The sense of smell is very definitely more important than we realize. It is a powerful means of communication.
The Apostle Paul writes to countless generations of believers and gentiles alike: 'For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?' (verses 15 and 16)
God created us with many special abilities we call senses. Smell is probably the least appreciated but potentially the most powerful. We communicate with the outside world through our senses. Without smell, taste becomes limited. When combined, we are are able to enjoy an almost limitless array flavors and fragrances. God enjoys fragrances too. Especially the sweet fragrance of love that arose from His Son Jesus' sacrifice for us at Calvary. However, it did not end there. When we seek to extend our own senses of smell from our worldly kitchen toward the heavenly banquet God has already prepared for us in heaven, others will want to know just where God's kitchen is.
Let Us Pray: Creator God, open our eyes that we may see, open our ears that we may hear, awaken our noses that we may smell, open our mouths that we may taste all that is good which comes first from You. Let our lives become the very sweetest of fragrances that draws others to Your heavenly kitchen. Let our lives touch others with the sweet fragrance of love emanating from the love of Your Son Jesus Christ.
http://www.youtube.com/
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