This is a phrase borrowed from the New Living Translation describing the condition of Daniels three friends who had been thrown into the firry furnace.

The Bible is careful to make it clear that the furnace was so hot that the heat killed those who threw these three men into the furnace. Then it talks about seeing the three unharmed in the furnace and a fourth man walking. This fourth man has helped many of us recognize that Our Lord Jesus Christ is more powerful than any circumstance in which we find ourselves.

When the king realizes that he is up against God he stops and worships. The men from the fire are then described as being entirely unaffected by it and “they didn’t even smell of smoke.”

I wonder why the Author of scripture added this phrase. It holds a powerful message for me as I am still processing the burning of a house and the tenacious smell of smoke that clings to everything. That which hasn’t burned is smoke damaged.

What does smelling like smoke parallel in our spiritual lives? Is it possible that we can experience victory but walk away smelling like smoke?

Are we prone to remember that which we lost and not that which was protected?

Do we talk more about the trial or more about the deliverance?

In order to not smell like smoke do we need to forgive those who are wounding us, trust that God is good when we cannot interpret His actions and rest in the hands of a God we cannot manage?

My prayer is that I can walk away from this fire and not even smell like smoke.What have you learned about being the fragrance of Christ?