While I was reading in the Gospel of Luke, I began to think about the plight of the widow and the sacrificial giving of her mite. It occurred to me that worship can be expressed in cents as well as scents. Like the widow, it’s possible to be nearly centless and still worship God.
There is another side to worship in which it is never scentless. When you approach God is the right way, your worship is the aroma of sweet-smelling incense that floats into His presence; and, it’s much like the scene in Revelation 5:8:
The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of fragrant incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
When your life mirrors the life of Jesus, you love as Christ loved, and your life becomes an offering and a sacrifice to God just like a sweet-smelling aroma:
Be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and has given Himself for us, as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma (Ephesians 5:1-3).
Based on the chart below, people are willing to spend their money to control their bodily odors. Shouldn’t we invest the same amount in time and effort to make sure we are as pleasing to God as we are to the rest of the world?
| Company |
Profit |
| Proctor and Gamble | $999 million |
| Unilever | $682.3 million |
| Lever Brothers | $329.5 million |
| Dial Corporation | $152 million |
| Colgate Palmolive | $146.6 million |
| Revlon | $79.7 million |
Before you turn your nose up to my earlier question, consider it in the light of this verse:
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved ~2 Corinthians 2:14
How sweet is your aroma?
Even though it paled in comparison to the 897 million searches in November that focused on the terrorist’s attacks in Paris, I still find it interesting that the top story in July was the story of Cecil the lion and the 32 million searches for information regarding the death of this King of the jungle. While some people saw the circumstances of Cecil’s death as being tragic, the death of another lion has been triumphant.
This past Sunday, Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez-Arévalo, went from ecstasy to agony in the space of a couple of seconds. When she heard Steve Harvey announce to the world that she was the new Miss Universe, the radiant smile on her face dazzled the crowd and lit up the stage.
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