Lesson Four • Give
Cathy Story
“I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.” Philippians 4:18
We observe the world through our senses. Most of our senses allow us some form of “escape” when encountering something unpleasant. If we see something that is scary, we can close our eyes to avoid it. If you touch something and it is hot, you can pull away. If you are cold you can put on something warmer. If you hear something loud or bothersome, you can cover your ears or turn the sound down. When something tastes bad, you can spit it out. What can be done when something smells offensive? We really do not have the option to just stop breathing to avoid the smell!
We cook a lot in our home, and many things fill the house with wonderful smells. One thing that has on occasion plagued our home with a terrible smell, and I am going to guess at some point may have plagued yours as well, is the smell of burnt popcorn. Not long ago, my parents made popcorn for our children, and some of it accidentally burned. As soon as we smelled it, my mom said, “We might as well throw this away, it is going to taste as bad as it smells.” I am going to guess you have likely encountered this situation yourself (and if you have not, count yourself as lucky), how something that can taste and smell so great, can just as quickly smell and taste disgusting. Once that smell of burnt popcorn enters the air, it can take a while to get rid of it. You can try to mask the smell or open a window, but it is so difficult to get rid of that smell quickly. We do not have the ability to just close our nose to the offense, as much as we may wish we could.
In Philippians 4:18 Paul describes the gifts from the Philippians as “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable, and pleasing to God.” Once we realize just how offensive bad smells can be, and how easily we can be stuck with them, it should bring about an appreciation for when things do not smell like that. Since avoiding bad smells can be extremely difficult, we often pay attention to the way things, and ourselves, smell. We can easily imagine the offense that comes from a bad-smelling offering, so take that mentality and put it into consideration with how God views what we bring to Him. Consider if God would look at your giving as something that could be described as a fragrant offering, or would it be something He would want to turn His nose away from? What steps may you need to take to ensure that what you give to God is fragrant, acceptable, and pleasing?