I love the feast for the senses that comes with the holiday season, don't you? All five of the senses are fully engaged in a way that is like no other time of the year. Here's a short list of such sense stimulators:

• Sight: red and green and silver and gold Christmas tree ornaments, lights, and other sparkling decorations to delight our eyes.
• Hearing: Christmas bells and Christmas carols to fill the air with jubilant sounds.
• Touch: frosty snow and prickly wreaths to bring a tactile element to the celebration.
• Taste: spiced cider, gingerbread, and candy canes to bring a nostalgic flavour to the season.
• Smell: freshly-cut Christmas greenery, wafting smells from the kitchen, and glowing candles to evoke childhood memories.

We often consider vision and hearing to be the "big boys" of our sensory world. It is true that deficits in these two areas require the greatest adaptation and accommodation for people to function well in daily life. But let's focus for a bit on our sense of smell — a truly underrated stimulus, in my opinion. I was intensely aware of this sometimes-overlooked sense as I often walked around the lake in our neighbourhood park this summer. The mixed fragrances of evergreen trees and nearby flower gardens lingering in the summer air were a sensory delight.

How fitting, then, it is to remember during the holiday season that fragrant frankincense was one of the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the magi. Though Scripture does not give such a detail, tradition tells us that frankincense is symbolic, denoting Jesus' divinity.

Fragrance is truly important to God, its Creator. From the earliest Old Testament times, God expressed His pleasure in the "pleasing aroma" of sacrifices offered as an indication of repentance of sin or thankfulness for His blessings. Mary (not Jesus' mother) offered her most precious gift when she broke her bottle of perfume to anoint Jesus' feet.

John 12:3 – Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. (NLT)

The apostle Paul describes our everyday lives as bringing pleasure to God.

2 Corinthians 2:15a – Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. (NLT)

How does this work in our everyday, practical lives? Paul tells us:

Romans 12:1 – And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (NLT)

Something to consider: Our lives of obedience bring God much pleasure. Let's live that way.

Prayer: O Lord, may our lives of obedient sacrifice bring great pleasure to You as a Christ-like fragrance. Amen.

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About the author:

Gail Lundquist <gail10833@gmail.com>
Beaverton, Oregon, USA
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