Over the centuries scientists have come to a remarkable understanding of light, sound, taste, and touch. What we see and hear can be measured and even reproduced with precision. Of all our senses, smell is the least understood.

Science is just beginning to understand what happens when an odor molecule lands on the nerve receptors in your nose and the brain identifies it as apple pie, for example. One of the most important things learned in recent years about the human sense of smell is that our ability to recognize odors is tied directly and intimately to the part of our brain most involved with memory and emotion.

A single sniff can cause an emotional response to a freshly baked apple pie in ways that are not possible by touching it or looking at it. Our reactions to a particular odor largely depend on our experience with it and what our brain remembers.

Often people arriving in a foreign country will experience a phenomenon known as "culture shock." A large part of this is due to the new odors experienced and from the lack of familiar odors the visitor isn't even aware that are missing. When the brain is overwhelmed with too many new smells for which there is no memory "on file," most people are made to feel very uncomfortable.

The next time you smell something familiar, try to recall what the very first thing is which pops into your mind. It will always be related to your very first exposure to that smell or associated with a very memorable (pleasant or unpleasant) event that happened in the past.

Above all else, smell evokes a memory response. What does God immediately think of when He smells you? Do you smell like sin and death which remind God of rebellious Satan? Or do you smell like Christ and cause God to remember His precious Son? (Ephesians 5:2.)