Do you smell that?

Sometimes that can be a good question like when you walk into the house and your mom has just pulled a chocolate cake from the oven. Other times the question of smell is not such a good thing like when you open the refrigerator and something has gone bad? Either way when we smell things we react.

There is a new company that seems to be taking over the market using the power of scents to get people to open their wallets and pull out their check books. The scents they use are very strong and for the most part I would say the company is on to something that appeals to most people. I have developed a love/hate relationship with the company and their ability to rule my nose. There have been several times when I have walked into the house and after a few seconds my mouth waters from the smell of homemade blueberry muffins or the smell of fresh fruit only to be completely disappointed when I have tracked down the scents source. For sitting where there should be a hot pastry, cake, or bowl of fresh cut fruit there is a small warmer full of liquid wax. Even though it might be tempting due to the intensity of the smell I would never sample the wax like I might if it was frosting from a cake. So you can see my dilemma with these fake smells! I can think of another time when a fake smell created a problem for someone.

Genesis 27 (read the whole chapter)
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
"Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.

Jacob saw himself in a desperate moment. He feared losing his father’s blessings to his brother Esau. He chose to be fake using his brother name, his brother’s clothes, and even his brother’s SMELL. A fake smell is what took any doubt his father might have had about Jacob being anyone other than Esau. We read this chapter in disbelief we are easy to judge Jacob for being a fake person especially to his father. How often are we fake in order to profit from so much less than this.
In desperate moments we have all at some point used fake attitudes, love, actions, and maybe even a fake smell in order to profit something. Being fake in its simplest form is a lie and although we all know being fake is not what God wants from us it can be easy sin to slip into for personal gain.

This week focus on being real and not fake. Show true love in your attitude and in your actions as you meet and encourage people to live a life for Christ.

In Him,
Joe