Day 196, Year 1

The Perfume is for the Lord

“While the king was at his table, My perfume gave forth its fragrance.” (Song of Solomon 1:12 NASB)

When you dine with Jesus, what kind of smell does your life emit? Spikenard, as a Chinese translation of “perfume” in the above verse, was an ancient, costly ointment usually obtained through trade, often in exchange for wages or products. The perfume offered to the King represents not only her fruit of diligence, but also likely her willingness to exchange what she earned through hard work. In other words, when we labor for God and strive to offer Him the valuable sacrifice, we will give forth a fragrance that He takes delight in.

Some people think that since the New Testament advocates the free gift of Jesus, accepting His salvation requires minimal effort. While the first part is true, the second part is false. On the one hand, accepting Jesus’ invitation and salvation is certainly free, as no one can do anything to earn the redemption needed. Yet, on the other hand, we must work diligently in the journey of faith to let our lives emit a fragrance that pleases Him. Let me illustrate with two metaphors. First, if Jesus were to visit your home today, would you not treat Him well? Believers would certainly make Him feel at home, bringing out whatever is available and precious. Second, a slave who is redeemed, just like a person who accepts Jesus’ salvation, will surely serve his master wholeheartedly thereafter, who has shown him grace. When we are enmeshed in sins and cannot save ourselves, Jesus reaches out to save us. Once redeemed, we naturally strive extremely hard and work hard for the service of our new master, Jesus Christ.

When we dine with Jesus, we will bring out the best things to show our hospitality toward Him. Today, the perfume represents the effort we make before and after receiving His salvation. While there were undoubtedly idle people in biblical times, the majority were industrious, since they would not have had enough food to eat otherwise. However, due to the Industrial Revolution, many people could live quite well without working hard in the past two centuries. I believe that this mentality of enjoying “free lunch” has gradually permeated among Christians, distorting the faith of the Bible. Contrary to the change in society, which led many people to mistakenly believe that accepting His salvation requires no effort, we must work very hard to offer our “spikenard” to give fragrance that pleases the Lord Jesus.

Reflection questions:

1) Are you diligent in your faith journey? If you have been lazy, how would you change by obeying the Lord?

2) In the Lord’s eyes, are you working hard at giving off the fragrance from your life that He anticipates?