Fragrance

If there’s one thing I tend to have too much of, it’s probably fragrances. I almost never leave Bath and Body Works without making a purchase... or two. You see, I love things that smell good and I love smelling good. I haven’t been to BBW in a few months though, which is probably a good thing, but that hasn’t stopped me from buying delightfully smelly things. This summer I’ve discovered the wonders of the Harajuku Lovers fragrances. 

Each bottle of perfume comes with a “doll” topper, there are five different characters in the set and each one has a unique scent. Because they are a perfume line and not a body spray line, they can make a dent in the wallet... Lucky for me there’s a such thing as Amazon and eBay where you can get cheap deals. Sooooo what did I do?

I bought two different kinds!

Both are the character, Lil' Angel, the one on the left is Wicked Style
and the one on the right is a mini original

They smell SOOOO good! 

Anyway, enough of my shopping-girly talk. I'll make this brief, and yes, again this is something in my life that gets me thinking about something related to God's awesomeness. Lez look at duh WURD:

"and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

                            Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)

God calls us to be a fragrant offering before Him and others just like He was when He sacrificed Himself to save us. When we reflect God's love we become fragrant and spiritually pleasing to others. This morning I woke up early and read John chapter 12 verse 1 through 8. The story was called "The Anointing at Bethany", which already stuck out to me because me name is Bethany. Anyway, here is the full story:

        " Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

         But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

         “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” "

I pictured myself in a modern setting of the story with me playing the role of Mary. I was pouring my new bottle of Harajuku Lovers over Jesus' feet then wiping them with my hair. But then I thought, "hmmm, Harajuku Lovers isn't that expensive for a perfume and nard was pretty freakin' expensive stuff back then. But I don't have any nard and I don't have any perfumes more expensive than this..." Immediately after that it hit me just what the whole point of the story was. 

Mary gave up a valuable earthly possession before Jesus' feet, and not just some of it, but all of it. Then she gave up herself in service for the Lord by wiping his feet with her own hair. Her act of submissiveness, selflessness, and sacrifice was fragrant, and spread throughout the whole house. People who don't have the eyes of the Lord will not understand the beauty nor the purpose of something as powerful as giving away everything we have to our Father. They will most likely try to stop us and even persecute us. In return the Father will defend our case. 

I know I have the hardest time giving up little things for God sometimes, in fact, that's usually the case all the time. It's a struggle we all have. But reflect a bit on the love story I shared from the Bible. Before we give ourselves up fully, we have to give up what hold onto to first. If Jesus were physically right here in front of me, I'm sure He'd appreciate my laptop, iPod, manga collection, Sonic the Hedgehog stuff, and, yes, my bottles of Harajuku Lovers fragrances. But what He would love even more is what I choose to do after that; give up myself. There's some food for thought. Or perfume for thought.