From the Pastor's Pen

Pastor Sally’s Devotional 1/14

| January 14, 2021

Dear friends,

I can smell supper as I write tonight.  My husband put a pot roast in the crock pot early this morning and the aroma fills the whole house.  It should be wonderful. He used our favorite recipe that has onions, seasonings, chili sauce and a can of beer.  It is always delicious!

 

We often talk about hearing God or seeing God or feeling the embrace of the Lord.  On occasions we talk about tasting God.  “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” says the psalmist.  Rarely if ever do we talk about our sense of smell with relationship to faith.

 

Certainly the Bible suggests God smells things.  In particular God is described a smelling the fragrant offerings of the children of Israel.  Of course these offerings were usually burnt offers of meat or grain and so we might think that God was smelling the wonderful scent of cooking meat like I am smelling the pot roast in the crock pot downstairs.  I’m more inclined to think of the fragrant offering figuratively and that what God appreciated was the desire of the children of Israel to give a gift to God either out of contrition, or out of respect or out of gratitude. 

 

One of my favorite Bible verses that references our sense of smell speaks of the aroma we carry on our bodies as Christian people.  Paul writes, “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”  (2 Cor 2: 14 – 15)

 

It is an interesting notion to me that we carry the aroma of Christ on our person.  I think Paul is suggesting that simply by being present with someone, we may communicate the presence of God to the other.  Other people should be able to tell that we belong to God and that presence of God with us may be perceived as a joy or possibly a threat.  Personally, I hope that I live my life in such a way that others will somehow see or hear or even smell the presence of God and find God’s presence a joyful thing.  I hope you do too.

 

Peace,

Pr. Sally

Related post

Dear friends, I have always thought everyone should have a dog because when you…

Hello everyone, Here is a devotional from Pastor Sally: Dear friends, Sometimes things are…

Dear friends,    I feel a sense of accomplishment today.  Some of you may…