Communities

Home | Media | Features | Communities |ZOL Info

Women's Article

Heaven's Scent
by Tonya Ruiz

People are encouraged to stop and smell the flowers, or to wake up and smell the coffee. We talk of the smells of fear and danger, the sweet smell of success, and the stench of death. The aisles at the stores are filled with thousands of scented products. Cinnamon, gardenia, vanilla, fresh baked apple pie, rose and peppermint are popular candle scents. Aromatherapy is all the rage. It seems we are consumed with scents.

My earliest experiences with perfume started in elementary school when I was given a bottle of Love’s Baby Soft. In Junior high school, I graduated to Babe, and when I was really mature and grown up (or so I thought), I drenched myself in Opium and probably gave everyone within smelling distance a migraine.

Five million olfactory nerves in the nose are linked directly to the brain. Lavender helps us to relax, rosemary makes us more alert, and sage is said to slow our memory’s decay. Researchers and scientist are studying how scents can aid in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s. They are discovering how important scent is to memory and emotions.

Although I inherited a fur coat, diamonds, and beautiful antiques when my mother died, one of my favorite treasures is a bar of soap. Bought in 1970 while on vacation in Spain, it spent the next 30 years in a chest of drawers keeping her clothes smelling fresh. One whiff, and thoughts of her fill my mind. So many of our memories are triggered by a particular scent and we are vividly taken back to that time in our lives.

A few years ago, I couldn’t stand the way I smelled. Garlic seemed to be seeping through the pores of my skin. The old adage that you are what you eat was holding true. The news had reported that eating garlic would lower my high cholesterol, so I began adding it to my diet, not knowing that I would become a walking clove and smell like an Italian restaurant.

How do we, as Christians, "smell" spiritually? Are we consuming the Bible on a daily basis? By spending time in prayer and devotions, does the Spirit of God permeate our very being and seep through the pores of our skin, smelling of the fragrance of Christ? Godly fragrance is not external. Fragrance d’Christ is not a perfume you can purchase at your local Christian gift store.

Fragrance is mentioned throughout the Bible. In Genesis, Noah offered a sacrifice to God that had a soothing aroma. In Leviticus, the Israelites were commanded to put oil and frankincense on their offerings, so they would be a sweet aroma to the Lord. The wise men brought Frankincense and Myrrh (fragrances) as gift to the young Jesus. Many years later, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with a pound of very costly perfume, and the house was filled with the aroma. After Jesus’ death expensive spices were used on His broken body. From the beginning to the end, Jesus’ life was filled with fragrance.

My father recently had his house tented for termites. Long after the exterminators were finished, a horrible smell filled the air. In the attic, out of sight, a rat had died from the termite poison and was left to slowly rot away. Sin is like decay in our lives, rotting away, sometimes, out of sight. Until our attic of sin is cleaned out and disinfected with repentance, we will be an unpleasant odor to all we come in contact with.

Remember the old perfume jingle from the 70's “I can’t seem to forget you, your Windsong stays on my mind.” When you leave a place, what kind of fragrance is left behind? How do you "smell"? Years from now, when your memory is evoked, what will you be remembered for? Do you have the fragrance of Christ in your life? Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. How can we be the fragrance of Christ to others? By doing what we are told in Ephesians, “to be imitators of God and to walk in love.”

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15).

Tonya Ruiz Tonya and her husband reside in Southern California with their four children. She is an author, actress, and speaker.

Visit Tonya on the web at www.tonyasquest.com