What Do You Smell Like? Exodus 30

Have you ever smelled something that immediately brought back a memory? In Exodus 30, God gives Israel instructions for an altar of incense. The incense was to burn continually, filling the sanctuary—and eventually the surrounding camp—with the fragrance associated with God's presence. The priest would smell like it. The air would smell like it. And eventually, the people would smell like it. The image gives us an important question for our own lives: What do you smell like? What we spend our time around eventually begins to shape us. The things we continually give our attention to influence what we carry with us into our relationships, our work, our families, and our everyday lives. If we spend time in God's presence, are we becoming people who carry something of that presence with us? And perhaps an even more important question: What do I need to do to smell more like God? Scripture Exodus 30:1–10, 34–38 Psalm 16:11 2 Corinthians 2:14–15 Hebrews 13:8 In This Message Why God commanded Israel to build an altar of incense The connection between smell, memory, and God's presence What it means to carry the “fragrance” of God Why we tend to become like what we spend our time around Two questions to bring before God: “What do I smell like?” and “What is keeping me from smelling like you?” Take some time this week to slow down and ask God these questions. Make space to listen for his voice and allow his presence to shape the aroma of your life.