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Redolence

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word “redolence” means, “the quality of smelling strongly of something or of having qualities (especially smells) that make you think of something else.” Many times, we can smell something, and that odor, whether good or bad, can take us right back to a certain memory, and often an emotion related to that memory. Maybe you remember what your third-grade teacher smelled like. Maybe you remember what your grandmother’s house smelled like. According to the Harvard Gazette, odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory, so it makes sense that certain scents take us back to certain memories and emotions.

Luke 7:36-38 says, “One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them" (NLT).

Can you imagine this scene? Can you imagine what that woman’s hair smelled like after she used it to anoint Jesus’ feet with rare perfume? How long did that smell stay in her hair? Did she smile to herself every time she got a whiff of it and remember the time she had the honor of spending time at the feet of Jesus? When she walked into that home, neither she nor Jesus smelled like rare perfume. When she left, they both did.

Do we spend so much time at the feet of Jesus that we smell like Him? Do people see us and think, “She must have spent time in the Presence of God; she smells like Him”? Do we emanate the Love of God as a result of the time we spend with Him? Can people recognize in us the difference time in His Presence makes? Make time with the Lord a priority so that when you walk out into the world, you emanate His Love.

Reflect: Do you spend time with the Lord on a regular basis so that you “smell” like Him? Do you love others as He would want you to?

Respond: What can you do to spend more time with the Lord? What action steps can you take so that you smell more like Him?

Repent: Repent for the times you didn't represent Christ well. Ask Him to transform you as you spend time in His Presence so that people see the difference He has made in your life.

Resolve: Make a decision to smell more like Jesus, especially in situations when it would be easy to smell like the world. See yourself as a light in a dark world, and challenge yourself to shine brightly.