Identifyable Scent

Yesterday I was walking through the perfume section at the PX and caught a whiff of some perfume that sent me back to Junior high. Surely, it was some cheap perfume that either someone I knew from that time wore. This happens to me frequently. I think Matt used to wear Drakaar when we were dating, so now every time I smell it I'm 16 again listening to Seal's latest release while driving around Sacramento with Matt.
The power of smell is really amazing to me. I love the smell of someone burning a fire in their fireplace on a fall day, or coffee brewing in the morning. Those are my comfort smells. Smell just has that power to transport you to a different time and place.
Our pastor is teaching on Exodus right now and a few weeks ago he was covering Exodus 30:22-37. In these verses God gives Moses a very specific recipe for an incense that was to be considered Holy. It would be placed in the temple, at the altar, on people who were anointed as ministers. It could not be used for anything else. If this recipe was replicated or used on anything other than what God specifically instructed, the punishment was death.
As I read the recipe and the verses that followed I didn't grasp the significance of this, until Pastor Chris broke it down. God wanted this scent to be His and His alone. So whenever you would smell that incense you would know you were in the presence of God or the person you were with was anointed by Him.
Now we don't have incense to remind us that we are in the presence of God, but we do have the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. We have the feeling of being at God's feet in prayer, at His altar for worship, or in His arms - in his embrace. It is a specific recipe that is not duplicated. Nothing man has made can replicate it. It is THE identifiable scent of our Lord.

Comments

Unknown said…
Once again you bring a message home. God has given you a beautiful gift. Love You Dad

Popular Posts