In an article at Mike Milton’s website “The Call,” he shares this insight: “When my father died I was barely six years old. After the funeral, Aunt Eva took me and we went through his possessions. Well, my dad didn’t have many possessions. But of all the things we found, the one that lasted for almost all of my growing up years was a bottle of Old Spice cologne. It smelled like my father. I didn’t use it for years afterward but we kept that bottle of cologne in the medicine cabinet. And every time I washed my face, I opened the cabinet to check and see if the Old Spice was still there. Aunt Eva never said anything, but she never touched it either. She must have known. The Old Spice was the only thing I had of my father to grow up with.
“Later, when I started shaving as an adolescent, Aunt Eva bought me a bottle of Hai Karaté! It was alright but it just wasn’t the same. It was supposed to make girls go crazy, and that didn’t work either. I can honestly say I never was attacked by a woman wanting to smell my Hai Karaté. Most important, it just didn’t have the right smell. It didn’t remind me of my father.
“The Lord instituted offerings in the Old Testament. We are told they were sweet smelling offerings and a pleasing aroma to the Lord. What did that mean? It meant there was a smell of sacrifice that pleased God. Later we would understand this was a sign to point to Jesus Christ. His life, His death was pleasing to God. It was the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrifices. But there is a wondering verse. It says that “we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” This tells us the life of our Lord is now all over us. His blood covers our sins. His life fulfills the perfect Law of God on our behalf. Christ has died and risen and ascended. His life, like my father’s Old Spice, is now on us, and His life in us reminds us of our Father.
“More importantly, it is attractive to those who are being saved. When I am with you, when I hear of Christ at work in your life, I am reminded of my Father. The Old Spice became a sign of my father with me, growing up. Now, as a believer in the Lord, the savor of Jesus in your lives helps me. I am in the Church because I need to sense His presence. This is where He wants me. Thank God, through the lives of His people, though my Savior is in Heaven, He is here with me through the sweet aroma of Christ on all of His people.”
