THE SMELL OF CHRISTMAS

Matthew 2:1-11I remember growing up Christmas had a distinctive smell to me.  It is the smell of freshly painted rooms (because that was a tradition for us at Christmas, cleaning and painting the inside of the house), it is the smell of ham, cakes and bread baking in the oven over a period of the two days before Christmas.  I am transported back immediately to my childhood when I smell these smells.  The Christmas story is filled with smells as well.There is the smell of a stable, hmmn.There is the smell of frankincense and myrrh. Those smells are significant to me.  The stable smell is a reminder that the God of the universe chose to be born in a lowly place.  He was brought immediately into the stench of the world.He was given frankincense and myrrh.  Now we’re talking, gifts fit for a King but an interesting choice…myrrh.  Myrrh was used for treating wounds and pain and was an important ingredient in embalming bodies.  Funny that Jesus birth is replete with the smell of sin and death.  But we need to be reminded that this was exactly why He was born – to die so that we could have life.  His death was the sacrifice needed to make us clean – so that we could stand before God the Father without the stench of sin and death upon us anymore. SAVORINGAs you enjoy the smells of cookies baking and all the other delicious smells of Christmas let it remind you to give thanks for now stench of sin and death is no longer upon us.