Let’s Start With the Word
Exodus 30:25 (NKJV)
“And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil.”
Hebrews 5:14 (NKJV)
“But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
1 Corinthians 12:17 (NKJV)
“If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?”
Let’s Take a Moment to Think About This
Something in this study kept pulling my attention back to the perfumer.
Not merely the oil.
Not merely the incense.
But the one entrusted to prepare it.
Exodus 30 says the holy anointing oil and incense were to be compounded according to the art of the perfumer. That wording stayed with me because it points us beyond ingredients and toward wisdom, skill, and understanding.
The more I studied, the more I learned that master perfumers are sometimes called “the nose.”
And that fascinated me.
The nose is trained.
A perfumer learns to recognize what others may overlook. Their senses are developed through exposure, patience, repetition, and careful observation. They learn what belongs together, what clashes, what overpowers, and what harmonizes. They are not merely smelling.
They are discerning.
That brought me back to Scripture.
Paul asks an interesting question in 1 Corinthians 12:17:
“If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?”
I had read that verse before, but during this study it landed differently.
We often think about the eye.
Vision.
Prophets.
Seeing.
But suddenly I found myself considering the nose.
Smelling.
Recognizing.
Detecting what cannot yet be seen.
And Hebrews 5:14 began speaking to me in a deeper way.
It says our senses are exercised to discern.
That word exercised stayed with me.
Because exercise means development.
Practice.
Use.
Growth over time.
A trained nose does not develop overnight.
And perhaps spiritual discernment does not either.
That made me pause and ask myself something.
What if discernment is not simply God warning us about evil?
What if part of discernment is God teaching us to recognize what is good… what is holy… what carries His fragrance?
A perfumer protects their sense of smell because it is essential to their work.
And maybe we too are being taught to guard our spiritual sensitivity.
To slow down.
To pay attention.
To recognize when something carries peace, truth, wisdom, and the character of God.
Because sometimes recognition comes before explanation.
Sometimes something in your spirit pauses before your mind has language for it.
And perhaps that is not weakness.
Perhaps that is training.
Perhaps God is teaching us to discern.
Consider This
• Have I been developing spiritual sensitivity or ignoring it?
• What voices or environments have been shaping my discernment?
• Have I learned to recognize what carries the fragrance of truth?
Before You Go, Hold Onto This Thought
The nose is not born trained.
It develops through use.
And maybe the same is true of discernment.
Do not dismiss the quiet ways God teaches you to recognize His wisdom, His peace, and His truth.
Sometimes what God is developing in us cannot yet be fully explained—
but it can be recognized.
Key Scriptures for Meditation
Exodus 30:25
Exodus 30:35
Hebrews 5:14
1 Corinthians 12:17
John 10:27
Gentle Invitation to Return
This is only the beginning.
The perfumer teaches us more than how fragrance is made.
There are still deeper layers waiting beneath the surface—about scent, recognition, endurance, and what remains.
So when you are ready—
come back and continue the journey with me.
Between a Father and HIS daughter, Home of The Artisans Pen 