Genesis Eight - Pleasing Aroma

"Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of 
every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”"

Genesis 8:20-22

The Lord, graciously gave this declaration after the flood subsided. It pleased Him despite Him knowing what other sinful acts that would occur even in the lineage of Noah. The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth- and is that not true; the children cry and whine of situations out of their own desires and their own controls. We are all born with selfish intent- the desire to be gods ourselves only to be shown we are worthless without the Creator who sustains the very breath we breathe.

What is to be a pleasing aroma to the Lord? Just from the view of someone from the 21st century looking in on history of God's redeeming power, I see Noah was a righteous man in His sight. What is a righteous man? Knowing good and evil and choosing to do good- what is good? What God decreed to do; you do, what God decreed not to do; you don't do. It is so simple yet in our sinful flesh we are incapable of doing what pleases God. I was listening to a few people speak on this issue of 'what can we do to be saved?' and the answer is a resounding, biblical and hopeless "nothing" because we are incapable of saving ourselves from the mire we dove into on our own volition. Only God can save, only He is mighty to save and everything we do is just burnt offerings to the One saying He desires mercy and not sacrifice.

May my heart beat for the Lord, may my heart break for what breaks His, and may all that I do be of desiring mercy and not to give burnt offerings.. May I be child-like to run to Him for truth and may He receive all the glory.