A Sweet Smelling Savor

 Greetings to  you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 

     Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

     There are a number of fragrances that I can recall that bring back certain memories wich were always good ones.  I used to plow fields in the fall and it was cooler and when I turned the tractor into the wind, the mixture of the plowed ground and the exhaust pipe was a very pleasing aroma. Don’t ask me why as it was probably hazardous to my health, but to me, it was pleasant and I would hunker down on the tractor as it was cold and enjoy the warmth and aroma of the engine mixed with the plowed earth.  Another aroma that brought back memories was the cheap perfume that a lot of the girls used called, “Blue Waltz.”  I think it was more vanilla than anything else.  

     Even God has things that are of a pleasant aroma.  One of the primary or best was the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary for our sins.  The above passage refers to it as a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor..  You don’t want to offer something that is spoiled or rotten to God.  It has to be perfect and the best.  The exhortation in the passage admonishes us to “walk in love.”  If we have a hard time trying to define that walk, then look to the example that Christ  loved us and has given Himself as that offering and sacrifice.  Soldiers fight and die for their countries as many have done in the many wars of the United States of America.  Their deaths were brought about because they loved their country so much that they were willing to sacrifice their own lives for it and for their fellow soldiers around them.  It  is also true today that many believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have given their lives for their faith.  Their faith is so important to them that they willingly die for the Lord rather than to reject him.  Foxes Book of Martyrs is a listing of the deaths of many of those early martyr who were cruelly put to death.  However, we can also recall that in 1995, more believers died for their faith than the entire listing of deaths in Foxes Book of Martyrs.  It is still going on even today where believers are put to death. Reports have come in how in Viet Nam, Vietnamese Christinas were being gunned down as they sang “It is Well With My Soul” as they were running across an open field.  It is sometimes difficult to realize that such a death could be of s sweet smelling savor, but they are.  It  is also interesting to notice t hat the word “witness” in Acts 1:8 is the root word for “martyr.”  It behooves us then, to walk in love even as Christ loved us.  Praise God for His precious promises.