...fragrance

Have you noticed how a particular smell can bring instant memory recall of a particular place or a particular person from the past? It can be a powerful reminder of an event decades after it happened. One of my high school teachers wore a fragrance called Jungle Gardenia. It had a distinctive smell that would linger in a room long after she had left it. To this day when I get a whiff of it, my mind immediately races back to her.

Fragrance takes center stage in the story of Mary of Bethany. Along with her siblings, Martha and Lazarus, she was a devoted follower of Jesus of Nazareth. On one occasion Jesus, along with other invited guests, joined them in their home for a dinner party. After dinner Mary did an astonishing thing: she brought some very expensive and precious oil and poured it out on Jesus’ feet. While some rebuked her for not selling it and giving the money to the poor, Jesus blessed her for this extravagant act of worship. Then John, who was sitting at the table with them, recorded,

The [whole] house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. — John 12:3

Mary’s gift became a blessing to everyone in the home that night who got caught up in its sweet fragrance. A life fully devoted to the Lord will have a lingering effect of His own sweet fragrance.

When you inhale a certain fragrance, let it be a reminder to you of the importance of leaving behind the fragrance of Jesus wherever you go, “a sweet-smelling aroma,... well pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18).

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. — 2 Corinthians 2:15

-o.s.hawkins