There’s a “treasure shelf,” high up and usually out of reach of little hands. This time, however, was my special time to shine as Granddad and Maddie (age 6) and Levi (age 4) were more than happy to help me explore the “treasure shelf.” Eager little hands and eyes explored the treasures: trilobite fossils, a mastodon tooth, the jawbone of a prehistoric bison, Civil War mini balls, arrow heads, bits of coral and semiprecious stones–all tantalizing and virtually unbreakable (very important). And then out came a nondescript rock. Brown. Jagged. Plain. Very uninteresting.
“What’s that?” Maddie inquired, holding the stone nearly at arm’s length. Her nose was slightly upturned with a cynical, almost disgusted look. Not nearly as cool as a mastodon tooth! That was obvious.
“Well, that’s a very special rock!”
“It isn’t very pretty,” opined the little one. She was right.
“I found this very rock on an ancient trail near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The trail is one that Jesus walked over 2000 years ago! Jesus may have stepped on this very rock or even kicked it! Imagine that!!!”
“Wow!” proclaimed Maddie, now cradling the ugly rock like a precious stone.
“Cool!” Levi was impressed too. “Let me hold it!!”
Then Maddie gazed down at the rock, brought it up to her nose and with a big, long, glorious sniff, exclaimed “Oh Granddad! This rock smells just like Jesus! He had to have stepped on it!”
Levi smelled the rock and concurred. “It does smell like Jesus, Granddad!”
Intrigued, I did what anyone else would’ve done. I smelled the rock.
I now know on very good authority, Jesus smells just like a rock. I shouldn’t have been surprised. He is the Rock.
“Taste [smell] and see that the Lord is good,” Psalm 34:8 NIV [with forgivable license].