The other afternoon, I stepped out onto the back deck to shake something out. “It smells like a good spring rain.” The air just smelled clean and fresh even though the sun was still out. Partly.
Breathing in, I recognized the smell of rain, and it was but a few minutes and the rain began to fall.
After the flood there came a point when God told Noah it was time to leave the ark. Noah obeyed and taking all his family and animals, he exited the ark.
Then Noah built an altar and took some of every kind of clean animal, and some of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
It was then the verse I had read earlier came back to mind:
“The Lord smelled the soothing aroma … “ (Genesis 8:21, NASB)
It’s humbling to think of God breathing in to absorb the aroma that was rising from the burnt offering. Even more so, to realize the aroma was soothing to Him.
It brought to mind 2 Corinthians 2:14 and another aroma:
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (NASB)
Warren Wiersbe offers this explanation:
“The image here is that of the “Roman triumph,” their version of our modern “ticker tape parade.” The victorious general’s sons would walk behind their father’s chariot, sharing in his victory; and that is where believers are today – following in Christ’s triumph. We do not fight for victory; we fight from victory.”
(Wiersbe Study Bible, page 1702)
Our lives can be spreading the aroma of victory – the sweet smell of success, so to speak, wherever we go.
The words of an old song come back to my memory, and I begin to hum …
“The fragrance of Christ
It breaks apart the strongholds of pride
and the hardest of hearts
It makes all the wounded whole and then starts
to open the senses to your goodness
It’s the fragrance of Christ.”(from The Fragrance of Christ, Charles Billingsley)
It is the fragrance of Christ – that sweet aroma –
it will open the senses of this lost world
to His goodness.
Prayer: Lord, help our lives to do just that – leave the sweet aroma of Jesus in every place we have been. May no one remember anything of us, but only of Him. And may it be a soothing aroma to God our Father and bring Him honor and glory. Amen.
We need passports to travel to foreign destinations. Yet there is only one “passport” that brings me peace and comfort each and every day. Susan Chamberlain Shipe reminds us of a “No Expiration Passport” and we can be confident of our destination. May we keep faithfully traveling until that day!
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
Today I am joining …Â
May we “leave the sweet aroma of Jesus in every place we have been.” Amen. Less of self, more of Him.
How sweet to envision God’s warm reception of our offerings!
Thanks for the feature, Jo… xo
Lovely post, Joanne, such an amazing opportunity we have to spread the fragrance of Christ to others, and what a sweet, sweet fragrance it is!
I want my life to smell like victory!!!
My sister and her family still don’t have their sense of smell back after getting covid in December. They’ve said it’s so strange. I don’t want to ever take aromas for granted; I’m glad God doesn’t take it for granted either!
Joanne, I love the idea of an aroma being soothing to God. I’d never read that verse in the NASB before. May our lives be a fragrance that is soothing to Him, also.
Thanks for sharing this today!
Thank you Joanne for this lovely post. It is a wonderful new way to look at these passages in scripture. I too love that spring rain aroma/fragrance in the air. I especially link the smell of rain and lilacs to my childhood. 🙂
Beautiful post on a sweet aroma and fragrance to Christ, Joanne. Love this:
“It is the fragrance of Christ ”“ that sweet aroma ”“
it will open the senses of this lost world
to His goodness.”
Amen Karen!!
Amen and Sing Glory Glory Hallelujah!! God Bless You All through Jesus-Yeshua Christ -Messiah!!
Love Always and Shalom, YSIC \o/
Kristi Ann
The verse from Corinthians has always made me wonder…what does God smell like? Now I know. The sweet smell of success!
Oh, Joanne … it’s so obvious when the sweet aroma of Jesus permeates a space, and also when it does not. Thanks for this reminder to pay attention to the kind of scent I’m leaving behind wherever I am. 😊
I love the idea that I walk in the victory of Christ like the sons walked behind their father and received the glory of his victory. I hope I’ll remember this when I’m thinking that I need to have victory in different situations. I just want to remember that I’m walking in Christ’s victory.
Thanks Joanne.