Incense, Punks and Stink Bombs

I remember as a kids, whenever our family would travel back to Missouri to visit our cousins (Shout out to everyone in the big MO!!), one of the things I looked forward to the most was buying firecrackers.

We would have hours of fun with those little explosives. Amazing how long we could stay occupied for about $1.50.

One of the things that was free with the purchase was a handful of "Punks" (and no, I don't mean my brothers!). These were incense-like sticks that would burn as a constant ember and is what we would use to light the fuse of our firecrackers.

They didn't smell good enough to be incense, even though they looked a lot like an incense stick.

This season, as I have been thinking about the gifts that the Wise men brought to Christ the child, I have come to understand the significance of incense in a greater way.

Matthew tells us that one of the gifts presented to Jesus that day was Frankincense. Frankincense (which, as a kid always made me think of Frankenstein), is simply a resin that is produced by a scraggly little tree that grows mainly in the Middle-East, and in varying environments.

This resin became valuable for the odor it would emit when burned. It is described as a sweet smell. These incense were burned in the temples of the old testament around the altar of sacrifice.

We read in Exodus, that the incense was to burn continually.

Many reason that the gift of Frankincense was representative of the Deity of Christ. Like the gift of Gold represented Christ's Kingliness, the Frankincense represented Christ's Godliness.

The incense is a type of our relationship to Christ, an example of our worship and praise of Jesus as our God. And like the incense burned in the temple, our praise and our worship should fulfill two objectives:

1 - to be continuous
2 - to smell good

We have to watch that our life, our attitudes, our choices, are something God can enjoy. Sometimes, even though we appear to be an incense, we often act like PUNKS! Our attitudes can light a fuse and cause an explosion of emotion if we're not watchful.

It is even possible to live a life that emits an unpleasant odor, like a stink bomb. So if someone is telling you that your attitude "stinks", now you know what they mean.

Ask yourself this question, "If I were God, would my life smell good to me"?

A simple way to judge our actions and our life is to simply see it this way....If you are not enjoying it, God isn't either.

God does not enjoy misery or sickness, He does not enjoy poverty, He does not enjoy bitterness, envy, strife, confusion, or any of those disgusting smells!!

God does enjoy a life that glorifies and worships Him, sometimes even in the middle of situations that stink! And our praise, our worship, is like a good smelling aroma to Him, and to the world around us.

How does your life smell today? When you walk in the room, does every say "UGH - What's that SMELL?!" or do they say "Ahhhh, what a refreshing scent!"

Live a life that is pleasing to God, like the smell of a great incense, we can bring joy to God and to the world around us!!

Go smell great today!!