Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Bible

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 ~ But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (ESV)

 

I’ve always wondered what it would be like if my Bible came with a scratch-n-sniff option.

 

Imagine what the Garden of Eden smelled like.

The fragrance of fruit trees and grasses and roses without thorns.

The aroma of a world brand new. Fresh and clean.

But it didn’t stay that way.

 

Decay and death soon entered.

In our scratch-n-sniff Bible, the rest of Genesis and a good chunk of Exodus smell like sweat and tears.

The aroma of perfection marred by sin.

 

But it didn’t stay that way.

 

God intervened and the glorious redemptive plan kicked into overdrive with the sacrificial system instituted in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Most of the Old Testament smells like blood and smoke and burning flesh.

The stench of a world under the law. Trying, day in and day out, to be good enough to blot out sin.

 

But it didn’t stay that way.

 

In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there’s a distinct shift. The smell of blood and smoke lingers, but something sweet is in the air. A fragrance we can’t pin down but one that calls to us. There’s a memory here, something carried over in our DNA.

We’ve known this smell. Every cell in our body responds to the Creator. The Word made flesh, dwelling among men.

 

But it didn’t stay that way.

 

He died. He rose. He ascended.

The veil was torn in two and the holy fragrance of mercy and grace explodes from the pages of Acts. It grows stronger as we flip through the writings of Paul, Peter, James, and John.

 

The Revelation is an assault to our senses as all the beauty and all the evil the world has ever known collide in epic battle. Then we reach the end and all we know is this.

 

It smells like home.

 

A world brand new. Fresh and clean.

 

And it will always stay that way.

 

 

Father, We praise you for the beautiful Story of Redemption we read in Your Word. We long for the day when we are finally home with you.

 

Lynn Huggins Blackburn

Lynn Huggins Blackburn believes in the power of stories, especially those that remind us that true love exists, a gift from the Truest Love. She’s passionate about CrossFit, coffee, and chocolate (don’t make her choose) and experimenting with recipes that feed both body and soul. She lives in South Carolina with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Her first book, Covert Justice , releases June 2015. You can follow her real life happily ever after at Out of the Boat.

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