Have you noticed the beauty of the flowers, and the lovely fragrances with which they fill the air? So exquisite and versatile that they grace weddings and banquet tables; they are sent to bring cheer and hope to sick rooms; and they appear in the time of death to bring comfort and uplifting to those who mourn. Perhaps drawing from the fragrance of the flowers we human beings have developed a love of placing fragrances on ourselves so others will not be repulsed by, but rather drawn to us. In the Old Testament what must have been highly fragrant oil was prescribed by God, known as the anointing oil, which could only be used to anoint the tabernacle, its instruments of service, and the priests (Exodus 30). Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and oh, what a beautiful fragrance He brings! In the New Testament through a relationship with Jesus Christ our great High Priest, we are made priests of God with the holy anointing oil of the Holy Spirit upon us (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 5:10). The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14B-16A, which I quote here, for clarity, from the paraphrased Living Bible, “…wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the gospel like a sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned there is a sweet wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma both to the saved and the unsaved all around us. To those who are not being saved, we are a fearful smell of death and doom, while to those who know Christ we are a life-giving perfume …” O Lord, may we ever live to diffuse this beauty and fragrance of Christ to the world all around us.
Be a blessing
By Rose Hill
I was walking down the path one day,
And saw some flowers along the way.
They were so bright, they smelt so good,
They stood up tall the way they should.
They only lasted but one day,
But while they were here,
They spread much cheer,
All along the way.
Let us be like those flowers rare,
That people can tell we were meant to be there.
To spread some cheer year after year,
All along the way.
And though life is short,
And we will soon be gone,
The memory of us will linger on.
In the hearts of those who couldn’t go on,
Before they passed our way.