Jun 01 – A Sweet-Smelling Aroma!

“And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake…'” (Genesis 8:21).

After the destruction of the great flood, when the waters had receded, Noah stepped out of the ark. The very first thing he did was to build an altar and offer sacrifices to the Lord. The Lord smelled that soothing aroma, and it moved Him. His anger toward mankind was quieted, and His heart was comforted.

Through this act, God made a covenant with humanity and placed His rainbow in the clouds—a sign of His promise that He would never again destroy the world with a flood. God said, “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth… I will remember My covenant…” (Genesis 9:13–16).

We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Not only that, but we became enemies of God. Yet the Word says, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10).

To prevent the kind of judgment that came in Noah’s day, Jesus offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Just as God accepted Noah’s sacrifice as a soothing aroma, He accepted Christ’s offering too—and through it, He offers us forgiveness and salvation.

If a sinful person is to become a sweet-smelling aroma to God, he must look to the Savior of Calvary. And just as Jesus offered Himself fully to God, we must also present ourselves as whole burnt offerings. Paul writes, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

Even though heaven is filled with countless beautiful aromas, God delights in the fragrance of a surrendered life. Anyone who obeys the Lord and offers their life to Him is pleasing in His sight—and the aroma of their sacrifice rises before Him as a sweet fragrance.

Scriptures like Numbers 28 and Exodus 27 speak of the offerings in the Old Testament. As people of the New Covenant, our call is to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” and to offer ourselves wholly to God. This is what becomes a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord.

Verse for further meditation: “You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.” (Exodus 29:18)