You may feel as if you are being broken today--in body, in spirit, or in material things. If so, consider that it may be God's way of bringing forth something good.

Think about the Lord's instructions for worship in the Old Testament tabernacle. Some of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil had to be crushed before they were used, because until they were crushed their fragrance could not be released.

The crushing of the incense is a picture of what happened to Christ. Just as the incense had to be crushed before it could give forth its fragrance, so also Christ had to be "broken" before He could be our Savior. Jesus called Himself the "grain of wheat" in John 12:24. If He had not been "ground to flour," He could not have become the Bread of Life.

Do you realize that only the death of Christ can save you? Only as His body was pierced and His blood allowed to flow out could He atone for your sin. Without the shedding of blood, there is no salvation (Heb. 9:22).

Have you been to Jesus for cleansing? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? If you have been, then you can be sure that in your own times of brokenness, God can bring forth a fragrance that glorifies Him.  — M.R. De Haan