Brenda’s Blog – March 18¸2014
“Bourbon Trail” said the sign along the Kentucky highway. Famous distilleries (known even to non-imbibers) graced the landscape.
The exit notifications told me the distillery for Maker’s Mark® was ahead. No, I wasn’t tempted to visit their tasting room, but it set my mind whirring. The Maker’s Mark — what a wonderful phrase for Christians. Don’t we bear the mark of our Maker?
One of my cousins raised her family in Bardstown, Kentucky, home of the Jim Beam Distillery. Her daughter said everything in their house smelled like bourbon, including their clothes and their furniture. This beautiful little town is the home of the “Bourbon Festival” each year, welcoming guests from all over the country to relish their products. You cannot miss the sweet smell of success in this quaint community.
What is the mark we carry? What is the aroma emanating from our lives? I think Jesus gave us a hint when He said, “They will know you are mine by your love for one another.” Love is our mark. What is the aroma? As we lift our voices and dedicate our lives to Him we present ourselves as living sacrifices. We become precious offerings of praise to our God. We are to be aroma therapy for a world sinking into a stinking morass.
I love collecting pottery. The ones produced by the hands of artisans are marked as evidence of craftsmanship and pride of ownership. Mass produced items never have a personal signature. Who has signed you? Who says, “They are mine.”
In Ephesians 2, Paul tells us we are God’s workmanship. He has created us for a specific purpose and has designed us with work to do which will show His mark to the world. We are the work of His hands and we wear His mark with dignity because we are created in His image.
We are the distillation of His grace and in ALL ways wearer of The Maker’s Mark.