I love getting diffusers and candles as gifts. Some people might think it is a rather bland idea, going ‘safe’ when you aren’t too sure what to get someone. But whether it is a “thank you” or a “happy birthday”, I think it is sweet to gift someone a scent.
Warm, uplifting and fruity
Last week I moved, and I wanted to fill my new room with a new smell. I like fruity ones, so I was browsing along the range and finally found ‘the one’ after a lot of sniffs. It described itself as “a warm breeze of tonka bean washes over a vibrant cocktail of apricot, papaya and mango forming an uplifting and fruity fragrance”.
Fancy, huh? But I rarely even drink cocktails and have never heard of “tonka beans”. All that hooked me was that it smelt just like my favourite bubble gum when I was a kid. And I love it. Every time I come home, I am delighted to have my room smelling like that gum.
So yes, it’s “warm”, it’s “uplifting” and full of “fruity fragrance”. It’s amazing how this tiny, colourless bottle of oil and a few sticks can fill a room like that and make me smile.
Fragrance of life
Smell is pretty important to me. I was never a huge fan of perfumes, but I would always choose my laundry powder, fabric softener, shampoo and body lotion by smelling them first.
If I meet someone that smells good, they would mostly leave an extra nice impression on me and even remind me of them if I smell something similar.
The Word of God also talks about Christians being “the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life” (2 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 15-16).
In other words, Christians please God with their beautiful fragrance of Christ in them, which spreads unto others as a reminder of eternity.
After learning about this verse, I thought of how much fragrance of Christ I might be spreading wherever I go. Since He began dwelling within me, all my thoughts, emotions and actions transformed. I was and will never be perfect here in this life, but I believe He is slowly shaping me to be more like Christ.
This means the aroma of Christ in me also slowly grows stronger. Thus, I hope to spread this pleasing scent more and more. Through my actions and choice of words, I pray that what could be a strange smell to some, may cause them to ponder, even ask me what this Fragrance is.
Amazing aroma in a tiny bottle of me
Just like how God challenges us to be a light that shines unto others (Matthews chapter 5, verses 14-16), he reminds us that we carry a certain smell that spreads unto others. Both show that we are to be different, apart from the rest, pointing to God Himself.
This is difficult as we are sinful, but we have hope not in ourselves (and how well we do), but in God and in believing Him. So, as a tiny, colourless bottle, I am filled up to the brim with Christ, spreading His scent with my sticks of actions, thoughts and faith. I am no pretty bottle, but the aroma within me is pretty amazing.
I pray again today that I would be pleasing to God as I spread His fragrance. I pray that I also could be a “warm” and an “uplifting” person, bringing a smile to God and others with this aroma – even without those breezes of tonka beans and fruity cocktail washes!
Sunny is a media student, a dreamer, a rider with a steady seatbelt in the roller coaster of her Christian life. You can easily find her lost in books, writing in her journal, crafting, sharing her awes in God and sneaking one too many chocolates in her mouth.
Sunny is as a weak as a broken reed, a flickering candle. But Abba God shows His abundant mercy again and again by incredibly loving this hopeless being. Soli deo Gloria.
