What's That Smell?

Exodus 30:37 - "Do not make any of the incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the Lord." (emphasis added)

Exodus 30 gives the recipe for the incense that was to be used on the altar of incense as the priests ministered to God. God makes it known that the mixture, or recipe, as HE gave it, was not to be used for personal use, however in verse 36 He says the mixture is to be pure and holy to "you"...the people, yet in verse 38 He reiterates, "whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance will be cut off from his people".

So...what's the incense for?

It is for the priest, but the mixture is a sign of his obedience. It is for the ceremony and to aid in honoring God. Verse 35 says the mixture is to be "salted." Ahh...Christians are supposed to be SALT & LIGHT. As the incense was already salted, it was not until it was LIT that it began to function properly, creating the aroma that was to be used in the worship of God. But even at this level, the aroma was still something God knew would be tolerable and pleasant to the priest. In the end, the aroma that pleased God was that of burning flesh.

The burning flesh that was pleasing to God was burned on the altar that was OUTSIDE the Tabernacle. The offerings of birds, goats, lambs, oxen, etc. The animals...the flesh.

The incense, to me, represents our lives...our worship-lifestyle...and specifically it represents our prayers going up, rising up to God. Are we mixing the ingredients properly and lifting them up to God? Some parts of our lives are not for the world but for God only. Our prayer times. Our personal worship times. Our times of quietude and the circumcisions of our hearts. Those things are not for the world, as it would not understand. As those things in our personal lives are mixed properly, the aroma rises. Jesus acts as our priest, interceding, that is praying, for us always. But even with this understanding, God still wants the aroma of burning flesh. God still desires us to offer up our lives as living sacrifices...to die to our flesh daily...to take up our crosses and die to what our flesh wants.

Can you imagine: God in Heaven...Jesus at the right hand praying for you? Just then He leans forward a little bit, as if something has caught His attention and He says, "What's that smell? You smell that? Ahh, that's a good smell...smells like flesh. Smells like incense. My child *insert your name here* has just killed his/her flesh. I love that kid. They're special to Me." Jesus says, "Bless them Father." Maybe even some angels or elders lean in to get a whiff. They nod in agreement. "Yeah, that's good. That's definitely flesh...it has distinct aroma" ...then they continue throwing crowns, praying and crying "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord." Heaven is going to be a loud, aromatic place!

prayer: God, show me how I can better be salt and light. Show me how I can offer up my life as a pleasing fragrance to You. You have salted me with Your purifying salvation, now light the fire in my heart so that I can continue to function for YOU!