“We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” (II Corinthians 2:15-16)
Thoughts… Smell, like all the other senses, is quite interesting really. What may be a pleasing aroma to me may stink to you, to put it bluntly. You may enjoy Aqua Velva; I prefer Burberry Brit. You may enjoy the fragrance of a freshly cut rose, but the smell I enjoy more than anything is fragrance of cedar. Weird, huh! You may find the smell of popcorn cooking in the microwave oven mouthwatering; I can’t stand it. It causes my throat to close up. So if you invite me over to your home for movies, ditch the popcorn and let’s have some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies—which I’m convinced is the modern day manna of the Old Testament.
The Bible reminds us that as Christians, we, too, have a smell. We carry around the fragrance of Christ. We can’t help it; it just naturally exudes from our being—or at least it should. Paul tells us that the fragrance of Christ upon us rises up to God as a sweet scent—he just loves the smelll, and to those who also wear the fragrance, it is an aroma redolent with life.
But to those who have rejected Christ, we stink. I don’t know how to put it more graciously than that. When they smell Christ on us, it reminds them of something bad. It reminds them of the guilt they carry around from being hostile toward God. It reminds them of the way of death upon which the Bible says they are traveling. It reminds them of the foolishness of the cross and the sheer lunacy of salvation by grace apart from works. It reminds them of the boatload of spiritual truth they have rejected.
Because you where aroma of Christ, they may not want to be around you. Don’t let that shock you. In fact, you ought to expect a negative spiritual olfactory reaction from people every once in a while.
But when that happens, just remember, you smell real good to God. So wear that fragrance boldly and proudly—you’re wearing the most expensive perfume in the universe.
Prayer… Father, thank you for bathing me in the aroma of Christ. What a privilege for me to wear his fragrance upon my being. I wear it humbly yet proudly. May it rise up to you again today as a sweet smelling offering, and may it be a fragrance redolent with life to those I am around.
One More Thing… “How was it that, even in the common tasks of an ordinary life, Jesus drew the praise of heaven? At the core of His being, He only did those things which pleased the Father. In everything, He stayed true, heartbeat to heartbeat, with the Father’s desires. Jesus lived for God alone; God was enough for Him. Thus, even in its simplicity and moment-to-moment faithfulness, Christ’s life was an unending fragrance, a perfect offering of incomparable love to God.” —Francis Frangipane
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