the smell of burning hair

A few years ago I read a story where a woman would light a candle each morning as she sat down to have her time with the Lord. Burning the candle was a way to separate those precious minutes with God from the other hectic hours of the day.

Occasionally, I have started the practice of lighting the candle on my desk before I sit down for a quiet time. As a side note, I love candles - the current candle on my desk is jasmine bouquet- a nice, light summertime fragrance (I'd recommend it).

This past morning found me sitting at my desk lighting a candle as I opened my Bible. Not too much time had passed before I realized that it wasn't the smell of jasmine bouquet that was filling the air, but that of singed hair (arguably one of the top 5 most unpleasant smells). Now don't be frightened - I wasn't foolish enough to catch my hair on fire, but a solitary strand of hair had fallen close enough to just be within grasp of the wick, easily overpowering any pleasant fragrance that would come from the lit candle.

The concept of our offerings and our prayers being presented to the Lord as a pleasing aroma is not a foreign one. In Revelation we hear about the 'prayers of the saints' which are 'golden bowls full of incense' (5:8). Just as actions can be detestable before the sight of the Lord, our sins can cause a stench in the nostrils of God.

The first chapter in Isaiah is amazing for the way that it shows God's thoughts to some of the traditions that we find ourselves in, disguised under the umbrella term of 'religion'. Specifically, in verse 14 "The New Moon festivals and appointed feasts" I could substitute 'Sunday services and daily quiet times'. A familiar term for such a problem might be 'hallelujahs without holiness'.

What I learned from lighting the candle that morning was that the act of lighting the candle (pardon the redundancy) didn't ensure a pleasant aroma. The strand of hair, that I hadn't taken the time to remove or given the attention to notice made it's self noticeable. I must realize that simply reading the Word without examining my heart makes me more like the smell of singed hair than that of incense. In fact, such a daily repetition without a spiritual humility may be exactly what God meant when He speaks of the "trampling of [His] courts" (v 12).

Praise God that He provided a solution to the mess we've made! Chapter one of Isaiah doesn't end with God's frustration with His people. Beginning in verse 16 the first instructions are to "wash and make yourselves clean" followed by His atonement in verse 16 "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow". Our Teacher Himself, exposes a problem and then He, Himself provides the solution.