What is Your Scent?

Exodus 30:32 “Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you”

There are some people you can identify-even with your eyes closed-just by their scent. You know they are near you because of your sense of scent. It is amazing how powerfully scents identify something or someone! I can walk into the John R. Rice Auditorium on the Bill Rice Ranch, and instantly there is an emotional, identifying tie with a service at camp, no matter what time of year it is.

Exodus 30 contains the recipe that God had given for the oil and incense. It was holy-it was set apart. It was a special recipe that was not to be used as cologne on a date or as an air freshener in a house. It was holy, and it should have been holy. Exodus 30:37 says of the incense, “It shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.”

Are there some perfumes that you cannot stand to smell? There is a certain scent that I distinctly remember a lady wearing when my dad was preaching a revival in Mississippi. Her perfume smelled like roses, but not the nice and fragrant variety. And the scent was thick-it had been poured on! To this day, I cannot stand the smell of that perfume!

On the contrary, do you know the trouble I have gone through to get the right perfume for my wife Sena? That scent is special-it is set apart. Often I feel like it is exclusively Sena’s scent! So it was with the oil and incense in Exodus 30. Often in verses 22-37, you find the words “holy”, “sanctify”, and “consecrated.” God was very particular about the savor of the holy anointing oil and the incense-what about the savor of our lives?

Specifically, what makes up the “scent” of your life? If the oil and incense were holy unto the Lord, then certainly our lives are of particular importance to Him. 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, “For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.” So in your life, do not ruin the savor. People identify a certain savor with Christ; that is dealing with a holy thing. Let me give you two areas to consider:

First, many of us will eat out in the next seven days. Have you ever had bad service at a restaurant, and you wanted to make a point with your tip to the server? You may have that right, but before you do, consider your priorities. I remember a particular fish restaurant in South Florida at which my family and I received some poor service. Normally our custom is to leave a Ranch tract with the tip-you might often do the same thing. On this day, though, either I did not leave a tip or I did not leave much of one, and I certainly did not leave a tract. I knew enough to know that I did not want to identify my tip with what was on the tract.

As we left the parking lot that day, I was smitten by the Holy Spirit about my rotten savor to that server. I thought that leaving a tract was a bad idea-do you suppose that server noticed my family dressed differently and saw us give God thanks for the food? Consider your priorities next time you are eating out, and remember your savor and the savor of Christ.

I was riding around the Rodeo Arena with some of the cowboys here at the Ranch. I smelled the distinct scent of my wife-but she was not there! In the middle of some rough and tough cowboys, I was wearing the good scent of my wife because I had hugged her just before saddling up. I had some explaining to do to those cowboys! Today, may others know by your savor that you have been with the Lord.