THE GIFT GIVER - AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE

PREPARE YOUR SURROUNDINGS
Find a quite calm place. Set up your diffuser with Lemon essential oil and let the oil diffuse for a little while before you start your devotion time so that the aroma is in the air.

PREPARE YOUR HEART AND MIND
Start your personal worship time by just taking a few moments to breathe in the uplifting, refreshing aroma of Lemon. Spend some time in prayer tanking God for HIs creation and provision of such pleasant aroma. Spend some time thinking through other ways that God had provided for your needs; thank God for them one by one and don't rush the process. The most important element of the devotion is spending time thanking God for His goodness. The actual devotion itself is of secondary importance to your prayer time.

After you've taken time to be thankful , read the following verse. Consider what it says word by word until you get the entire meaning in your head. Read it over several times. When you have a good sense that you understand what it is saying, then close your prayer time and move into the written devotion.

GOD'S WORD
"Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich." Proverbs 21:17

WORTH THINKING ABOUT
When I was a kid one of my favourite times of the year was my birthday. I mean, what kid doesn't love his birthday right? I remember sitting in the middle of the living room floor, bubbling over with anticipation and expectation as each new present was given. In my family we always followed the same pattern: the biggest presents were always saved until the last. The anticipation would build more and more with every package.

For this reason, I had a tendency to rip through the first smaller packages in a hurry to get to the next one. This caused my mom to establish the routine of constantly asking me, "What do you say?" before she would hand me the next present. Her expectation was that I would look around the room, find the person who gave me the present, and offer my most sincere, "Thank You!" My mom did this because she realized as a child  had a propensity to be so excited about the gift that I would often forget to be grateful to the one who gave me the gift. 

One of the interesting narratives that we see all through scripture is when it comes to blessings from God, we have a propensity within us to celebrate the gift and forget about the gift giver. In fact, in some cases we can even worship the gift instead of the gift giver. The Bible calls this behaviour idolatry. Idolatry is when we worship something other than God. Idolatry is a sin of worship and often perpetuates multiplication of sins.
What we actually worship in our hearts is the greatest predictor for our actions. For example, if we worship prosperity we will do anything we can to gain prosperity. If we worship power we will do anything to get power. But if we worship God, then our lives will be about bringing Him glory.

The reason I bring this principle up related to essential oils is because if we are not careful it is easy for these amazing gifts from God to take the place of God in our lives. We can get so excited about essential oils, and all the amazing benefits they bring to our lives, that we begin to invest all of our time, energy, and effort into things related to essential oils. It can be easy for people to go from celebrating God's goodness in providing essential oils, to cutting God out and just celebrating  (idolizing ) the oils!

The greatest tool in the battle against idolatry is a grateful heart. God is so good and we have so many blessings from Him to celebrate. This starts with the Gospel. God is so good that he sacrificed His Son on the cross to purchase our salvation. Essential oils are great! However, essential oils are a gift, and it is important for us to remember to be grateful to the gift giver.

Consider your own life. Have you allowed other things to creep in and get between you and God? Maybe you've gotten so excited about essential oils that you 've forgotten they are simply a great gift from a great God. Spend some time today examining yourself. If you have allowed idolatry of any kind to creep in and take the place of God, then turn from your sin and ask God to forgive you! Start with the Gospel and continue by considering all of the good things in your life. Remember the greatest tool in the battle against idolatry is a grateful heart. A grateful heart comes first and foremost by remembering what Christ did on the cross.

Reference: The Aroma of Worship : Derin A. Stidd