Humans in general are able to experience the benefits of having five senses. These abilities involve sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. We make sense of the world to a large degree by using these senses for a number of reasons. These include safety, pleasure, memory recall, learning, attraction, repulsion, and all sorts of decision making processes based on our experiences. The focus will be on one of these senses which involves the Olfactory system -- the part of the brain which allows us to interpret smells. We sniff with our nose to smell something and then a message is transmitted to the relevant section of our brain to make sense or process what we smell. We then receive information which confirms that we either like or dislike the odour, and to what degree of intensity of enjoyment, or otherwise.

For example, whenever I smell lavender I am instantly transported to my dear Granny's house with pleasant memories of her garden and the time we spent together. The ability to smell is a very important one for me and I cannot imagine life without this sense. Some of my favourite smells consist of roast lamb, BBQ's, hot bread, pine forests, selected perfumes, horses, leather, rainfall on the dusty earth, various flowers, cinnamon, and the fresh morning dew. As I was thinking about all the things I enjoyed smelling, I wondered what sorts of aromas pleased our Father, and also what did not.

Emission of Sweet Soothing Aromatic Scent

There is much to say about smells or aromas in the Bible. God refers to burnt animal sacrifices and offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma many times over throughout the book of Leviticus (1:9, 2:2, 3:5, 4:31, 6:15, 8:21, 23:13). In Ephesians 5:2 we read "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma". Then in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing".

God enjoyed the aromatic scent of roasted meat from Old Testament times when animal sacrifices were made. It was a sweet, pleasing smell to Him. In New Testament times He enjoys the sweet smelling aroma of Christ's sacrifice for the whole of humanity. God then also enjoys our fragrance of Christ as we diffuse the same sweet smell of His knowledge wherever we go, as we spread the good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

As God's children we give off a pleasing fragrance when we pray, as it says in Revelation 5:8, so much so, that God has stored His saints prayers as golden bowls full of incense. Back in Psalm 141:2 King David said "Let my prayer be set before you as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice". Our prayers represent a daily sacrifice of our time to be with our Creator morning and night, and in the time between, like David in Psalm 55:16-17 and Daniel in Daniel 6:10. This is pleasing to our Father who desires this intimate relationship with us. David was a man after God's own heart and Daniel was greatly esteemed and greatly beloved by God -- both wonderful examples for us to aspire to in regards to their prayer life. (Acts 13:22 and Daniel 10:11 respectively). Their prayers were heartfelt and intensely meaningful and pleasing to God.

We are also given The Model Prayer in Matthew 6:5-13 as a template to use for our prayer life. Prayers that give off a sweet smelling aroma are those which are genuine, sincerely delivered from a humble and contrite heart, full of dedication in seeking out our Father as a loving, obedient child eager to please Him.

The Foul Stench of Unrepentant Sin

In Ecclesiastes 10:1 we can read "Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odour; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honour". God's people give off a foul odour when engaging in foolish behaviour which leads to sin. Human nature tends to want to disguise sin, hide it, pretend it is not there, or cover it over, which is a great cause for concern. By not going straight away to God in humble, heartfelt, repentant prayer, we leave ourselves wide open to the accuser of the brethren -- the devil-- the author of sin. He will be only too eager to accuse us day and night before God, as it states in Revelation 12:10.

The last thing we should do is try to cover up our transgressions like Adam and Eve did when they hid from God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-10). The longer we delay going before God's throne, the longer we are emitting a foul stench to God. We stink. The stink of sin is abhorrent and vile to God. Instead we want to be acceptable as fragrant incense, as stated in Ezekiel 20:41.

God cautions us in the book of James 1:21-25 to watch ourselves. We are to be doers of His word, not just hearers of it. Doers do something. They seek God out each and every day many times over to pray, to keep the lines of communication open, to praise, honour and give thanks for everything He does for us. We simply cannot thank God enough but we can demonstrate our love by praying and letting Him know that we recognise just how blessed we are and grateful for the opportunity to serve Him.

1 John 1:8-9 is important to note with regards to being cleansed from the unrighteousness of sin, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". What we all need to ask ourselves is, what type of odour do our prayers give off to God?