New scent

It had been easy days for the Moabites. Although a distant relative of Israel, they did not have such a turbulent history as Israel.  They had not been subject to many changes. Jeremiah the Prophet said, “Moab has been at ease since his youth; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, so his taste remains and his scent has not changed.”   

Wine was made by decanting the fermenting wine, off into other vessels and leaving the dregs behind in the first. This purified the wine and improved the scent of the wine. Here the people of Moab had become rancid with a taste and smell not pleasing to God. They had not been poured out. There were no changes in their circumstances and no changes in their hearts.

Great things can happen when we are in a place of change.  We begin to draw closer to God as we become more aware of our need for Him to turn up in our lives. When we are emptied from vessel to vessel or we are taken to a place that is foreign to us or even difficult for us, our scent begins to change.  We begin to smell more of Jesus; more humble, less self-confident more reliant on God. We smell more of the supernatural and of the grace of God.  In the new situation we can’t rely on ourselves anymore; we are out of our depth and have no pat answers; we need the Holy Ghost.

Friend, changes in our life help us to develop the fear of the Lord and a new scent around our life. As we are poured into a new situation of change, He can pour new wine into our vessel. His new wine will be totally sufficient and it will always fill up the shape of the “new vessel” or situation we find ourselves in. Best of all the wine in the new vessel smells wonderful to Our Father.