Song of Songs 7:6-9 How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights! This stature of yours is like a palm tree, And your breasts like its clusters. I said, "I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches." Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine, The fragrance of your breath like apples, And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. NKJV
What's Needed to Sniff Out The Things of God.
In the South of France, it is the city of Grasse that claims to be the perfume capital of the world. It is the industrial professionals of this ancient industry that at the time of my writing tonight, claim that although there may be 1,000 professional Perfumers in the world, there are only fifty 'Noses' and each of them have originated or have been trained in the city of Grasse!A ‘Nose’ is a unique technical artiste, an inventor of perfumes with the ability to recognise up to 3,000 different smells. Working for months at a time, their task and calling is the ability to mix such an harmony of fragrances that the tone of their invention will set all other noses to dancing!
Of course perfume has been used for thousands of years in commemoration, medication, sanitation, seduction and sacrifice. Useful stuff! Knowledge of perfumery came to Europe from the East early in the 14th Century, but it was Queen Elizabeth of Hungary who ordered the making of the modern perfume of today, made from scented oils blended in an alcohol solution. Indeed, this first European perfume became so popular that is was known throughout the Western World as ‘Hungarian Water.’
I would like to suggest tonight, that the church has much more than fifty 'Noses'! Indeed, I wonder just how many folk have the capacity of leadership to orchestrate such a harmony of fragrances? Fragrances of commemoration, healing, health, spiritual seduction and sacrifice, that when steeped in the preservative and powerful alcohol of the Holy Spirit, they will set the church to dancing! I suspect there are many and should such a ballad of fragrant forcefulness be let loose in the church and subsequently upon the world, that the top note of ‘Wowness’ would turn their necks in wonder, the middle note of ‘Wooing’ would win their hearts to Christ and the base note of warmth and tenacity, would both bind them in the loving arms of the Father and keep them firmly and happily in His strong eternal grip.
I reckon we need to get to picking a few 'Noses' this Chrstmas time and then imploring them to make us some Hungry Water to be sprinkled on a tired old church and a stinky old world! The big question then is 'do we the church have any noses to left to pick, any noses left to do us such a fragrant service, to help us both smell the love, and smell the hidden danger and flee? In the olden days, we used to call them prophets and I tell you, it's been a long long time since we've seen any sitting on our grass.
Listen: - The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! Song of Solomon 2:13 NKJV
Pray:- Lord, lead us to the 'Noses' and help us to honour them and release them, for Lord, how can Your church begin to smell without proper noses? So send us some today, in Jesus name we pray, amen.
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