Day 2 of VBS: A Fragrant Offering

“…walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” Ephesians 5:2 (emphasis mine)

Ever wonder what Jesus smelled like?

Can you imagine His odor on the cross?

Or, how He smelled when He walked out of the leper colony?

Or what could be detected on his clothes after leaving Matthew’s party?

I cannot imagine He smelled like a bouquet of roses after He washed 24 feet in the Upper Room.

To the Father, He smelled incredible. Like walking in your neighborhood and catching a whiff of someone grilling meat over a hot fire. To the Father, Jesus smelled like love. Jesus didn’t smell like Himself. He smelled like those He was called to love. To some, the smell would have been awful. To the Father, a fragrant offering. A smell He wanted more of.

The Bible tells us Jesus and children got along great. Children loved Jesus. Jesus loved children. Still do.

Have you ever smelled a group of children? It’s a unique mixture, really. I mixture of “yikes!” and “wow!” all in the same moment. It’s hard to describe, but easy to detect. It’s a unique mixture of milk and cereal, of sleep, of Kool-Aid, of sweat, of Play-Doh, of dirt, of the beginnings of body odor, of crayons, of feet.

I wonder if Jesus took off His garments after having been with children all day and pressed them against His nose, just to take in the unique smell of children on His clothes? I bet He did. I imagine the Father loved the smell. It was a fragrant offering. It smelled like love. It smelled like the ones Jesus was sent to love.

Day 2 of Vacation Bible School is the worst. No one likes it. You are already exhausted. You wish it were over. You’ve done your time, so now to get back to your “summer schedule.” But there are still 3 LONG days ahead. Let me encourage and challenge you with this. Before you take off that shirt that you are already getting sick of wearing. Before you put it in the washing machine. Before you get all the stench and dirt and sweat off. Do this: press the shirt into your nose and sniff real big. It will smell like children. It will smell like love. It will be a fragrant offering to the Father. You will remind the Father of Jesus because you are being Jesus to a group of smelly kids.

You are more like Jesus when you don’t smell like yourself, but like those you are called to love.