Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV)
One aspect of my evening walk on Saturday impressed me, something I had known previously but had forgotten about. I am speaking of the sweet aroma of the woodlands, which is more pronounced as the sun sets. In my opinion, I find it to be a musty sweet fragrance with occasional stronger tones of certain flowers or shrubs. I find it to be the perfect accompaniment to the sunset symphony of the various birds, which reminds me more of the blessings of our Creator God.
As I meditated upon the sweet fragrance of His creative presence, I was reminded of the significance of the fragrance of sacrifices offered to God in the Bible. The first occurrence of this is found in Genesis 8 when Noah built an altar to worship God after the flood; Noah presented his burnt offering on the altar, “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake.” (Gen.8:21). This pattern is further seen in the orders of worship given to Moses after the exodus of Israel from Egypt, “And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” (Exodus 29:18).
A thought occurred to my mind as I thought of the sacrifices in the Old Testament, which were a sweet smell to God; how much more sweet the offering of our Lord and Saviour at Calvary must have been – a one time permanent offering for all men, a far better way as it says in the first chapter of Hebrews.
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15.
Dear Reader, we are called by our Father God, in Christ, to also be a sweet fragrance through our sacrificed lives: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:1-2). In our daily communion with Father God, we surrender our all in our adoration and prayers, which ascend to His throne as sweet incense (Rev.5:8), and He smiles upon us, His children.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
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