“Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” John 12:3

Fragrance

The sense of smell is a powerful memory-provoker. Who hasn’t entered a certain place after a long absence, and instantly the smell of the place brings back long-lost memories? When my grandfather died, my grandmother kept his clothes in his closet for years, because when she entered the room it smelled like he was still there.

Did you know that God created us with the ability to detect at least one trillion distinct scents? Did you know that God created us with the ability to smell fear and disgust? (Trivia: It is detected through sweat.) Did you know that women have a better sense of smell than men? (Trivia: The scientific thinking is that it developed in women so they could better bond with and understand their newborns. We, of course, know that God gives us what we need.)

When I have my morning devotions, I light a candle in the room where I meet with the Lord. It isn’t so that I have a focus (“attention and waiting”) point, as some do in their practice of faith; it isn’t in remembrance of a person, as some do when a loved one has died; it isn’t to obtain God’s favor. It is for no other reason than because I like the smell. I light the same candle day after day, and it permeates the room’s furnishings. I can smell the fragrance when I enter the room even if the candle isn’t lit.

There’s just something about fragrance, and God created it and knows it.

I wonder if this is why God commanded that incense be burned in the tabernacle. In Exodus 30, specific instructions are given to Aaron about burning sweet incense every morning and evening. Verse 8 says, “He shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.” Surely, whenever the people came anywhere near the tabernacle, they could smell the burning incense, and they would remember the Lord.

Zacharias the priest, father of John the Baptist (but before John was born), received the miraculous news that he was to be a father. Luke 1:9 tells us that the lot fell to him to burn the incense in the temple. Do you know what the people were doing while Zacharias was inside the temple burning incense? “And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense” (1:10).

There is a relationship between incense and the prayers of the saints. “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8).

Though candles aren’t exactly incense, both are a fragrance. When I enter the room where I meet with the Lord, the lingering smell of the candle reminds me of prayer and the presence of the Lord. Thoughts and memories of my strong Lord and His mighty deeds flood me.

Lord, may we be reminded (by some method of Your choosing) of Your greatness day and night. Help us to never forget You. Amen.