Day 2 of VBS: A Fragrant Offering

Last updated on: June 19, 2018 at 10:03 am by Matt Pearson

Day 2 of VBS: A Fragrant Offering 2018-06-18T10:29:14-05:00 Matt Pearson

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“…walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” Ephesians 5:2 (emphasis mine)

Ever wonder what Jesus smelled like?

Can you imagine His odor on the cross?

Or, how He smelled when He walked out of the leper colony?

Or what could be detected on his clothes after leaving Matthew’s party?

I cannot imagine He smelled like a bouquet of roses after He washed 24 feet in the Upper Room.

To the Father, He smelled incredible. Like walking in your neighborhood and catching a whiff of someone grilling meat over a hot fire. To the Father, Jesus smelled like love. Jesus didn’t smell like Himself. He smelled like those He was called to love. To some, the smell would have been awful. To the Father, a fragrant offering. A smell He wanted more of.

The Bible tells usÂ Jesus and children got along great. Children loved Jesus. Jesus loved children. Still do.

Have you ever smelled a group of children? It’s a unique mixture, really. I mixture of “yikes!” and “wow!” all in the same moment. It’s hard to describe, but easy to detect. It’s a unique mixture of milk and cereal, of sleep, of Kool-Aid, of sweat, of Play-Doh, of dirt, of the beginnings of body odor, of crayons, of feet.

I wonder if Jesus took off His garments after having been with children all day and pressed them against His nose, just to take in theÂ unique smell of children on His clothes? I betÂ He did. IÂ imagine the Father loved the smell. ItÂ was a fragrant offering. It smelled like love. It smelled like the ones Jesus was sent to love.

Day 2 of Vacation Bible School is the worst. No one likes it. You are already exhausted. YouÂ wish it were over. You’ve done your time, so now to get back to your “summer schedule.”Â But there are still 3Â LONG days ahead. Let me encourage and challenge you with this. Before you take off that shirt that you are already getting sick of wearing.Â Before youÂ put it in the washing machine. Before you get all the stench and dirtÂ andÂ sweat off. Do this: press the shirt into your nose and sniff real big. It will smell like children. It will smell likeÂ love. It will be a fragrant offering to the Father. YouÂ will remind the Father of Jesus becauseÂ you are being Jesus to a group ofÂ smelly kids.

You are more like Jesus when you don’t smell like yourself, but like those you are called to love.

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