Song of Solomon 4:16 NLT
Awake, north wind!
Rise up, south wind!
Blow on my garden
and spread its fragrance all around.
Anyone that has grown up in a farming community knows that smells can travel on the wind. I once lived near a Franz bakery, I know smells travel on the wind. If you ever walked outside and smelled smoke from a wildfire hundreds of miles away, you know smells travel on the wind. Smells can trigger memories and transport our minds to times both good and bad. The Old Testament is filled with examples when sacrifices were made to the Lord. When offered with false pretenses, the odor was displeasing, but when made with a loving, humble heart it was “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” God wasn’t on a conceited power trip demanding these sacrifices as payment. Think of them simply as a tangible thank you card for Him forgiving sins time and time and time again. Ultimately, when Jesus died on the cross, He was the final sacrifice, but that doesn’t give us the license to go on a sinning rampage! Ephesians 5:2 NLT reminds us, “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” What fragrance will be trailing you today? Make it a pleasing one!
