Present a Fragrant Sacrifice to the Lord: Pure Honey that Lasts Forever and Sweet Gift

Have you ever wondered or questioned the purity of the honey? Honey is sweet and nutritious. Pure honey is considered the best food and it can literally last forever without getting spoiled. In 2015, archaeologists reported that they'd found 3,000-year-old honey while excavating tombs in Egypt, and it was perfectly edible. This photo of a honeybee reminds us of a great passage in Scripture that teaches us how to present a sweet gift– a pure offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:2 NIV tells us to: “Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

As Christ offered his life– his sweet sacrifice– as a sacrifice for our salvation out of his love for us and obedience to his Father, we are encouraged to offer our lives as sacrifices in a similar manner.

Romans 12:1urged the believer to be metamorphosed and become a living sacrifice: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship.”

The believer is transformed into a new person with new habits and a new form of worship. This newness implies a radical, thorough, and universal change, both outward and inward. The inward change produces the outward. An outward change is of little worth if the inward is not renewed. Only after the whole life is changed can the person be presented as a living sacrifice pleasing to God.

The whole life, the whole being of a believer must be: “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18). A life diluted with our own desires, our own strengths, and our own glory cannot be offered before a holy God. By his mercy and grace, he can purify our lives, our sacrifices, with the blood that he shed on the cross.

God desires his children to have love, humility, and purity of heart. He opposes pride and all immoral or sinful things. Study and meditate on his word with prayer to tap into his power to present your lives– including your sweet gifts and talents– as a fragrant offering, pure and acceptable sacrifice, and well pleasing to God.

Selie Visa