John 12:1-8 says, “1Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, 5Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”

The sense of smell is one of the five senses, and the aroma and fragrance of a smell can always stir some type of reaction within you. You can crave what you smell. stirring a hunger in you for a specific food, such as stepping into the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. You can become nauseated because of what you smell, such as passing a dead skunk on the side of the road or trapped in the vehicle with someone who just has some bad gas! You can relax because of what you smell, such as a candle. It engages your imagination, whether good or bad. Therefore, it is important that you know what you allow to fill the senses of your spirit, as well as what senses you create.

Another example is some of these guys who wear the same clothes to play ball in over and over again without washing them, or never wearing deodorant.  The problem is that you can spray all of this cologne on, but if you still stink once the smell of the cologne fades away, then you are wasting your time trying to impress. 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:1 says, “17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty…1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” You do not have to depend on your heavenly Father and a spiritual father or mother to cleanse you. Speak the Word over your life and cleanse yourself!

Have you ever seen those Febreze commercials? These people are blindfolded and taken to basically a trash dump or a nasty kitchen, and they picture being in some field or garden, when, in reality, they are not. Febreze may work for a few minutes or an hour, but if you give it time, the original smell will be there. Nothing will change until everything has been cleaned! You can wear cologne and deodorant, but if you do not shower or take a bath, you will turn off someone’s attraction to you. God is attracted to the bride’s perfume that comes with the sacrifice of praise, worship and prayer!

In John 12, Mary paid such a price in worship to God that the whole house was filled with the aroma of the ointment. Does the aroma of your worship saturate the entire atmosphere? Does it permeate your very surrounding? Or covering their sins with the fragrance of worship, but is it really worship? John 4:23-24 says, “23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” You worship not in the flesh but in the spirit because God is a spirit. Your flesh may react to worship if it is under subjection to the spirit, but it is not worship if it does not come from deep within. And you cannot worship in lies, but only in truth. Your manmade worship is a lie when it serves as a double standard. You say how much you love Jesus and appreciate everything He did on the cross, but you crucify Him over and over again because of repetitive sin that you try to keep dusted under a rug. Repentance is true worship, and it gives off the aroma that stirs God’s hunger for your presence! The aroma of true worship draws Him near every single time!

In the midst of this worship, Judas Iscariot condemned it, saying this ointment could have been sold for 300 pence. A pence is worth about 17 cents, making 300 pence $51 total. There will always be one who will condemn your style of worship, but their heart motive could very well be betrayal! Judas cared more about money, temporal things, than he did a true relationship with the Father. The reason Judas was upset about it is because if Mary had given Jesus money, Judas, being a thief, would have more than likely stolen it, using it only for his vain good. Judas could not steal this ointment that had been poured upon the feet of Jesus because when you are determined, nothing can rob you of your worship. The true fragrance of worship welcomes the presence of Yahweh, and it exposes the greed and sin in the room.