Do You Smell?
How many of these “fragrances” do you know?
- A new car.
- Fresh pine when cutting firewood.
- Ash tray in the smoking area.
- Burned flux when welding.
- Exhaust from diesel truck.
- Kerosene from the startup of an airline jet.
- Windrow of an alfalfa field.
- Electrical fire.
- New wood when framing a home.
- Rear differential oil.
- Pizza restaurant.
- Auto body paint.
- Fermenting beer.
- Coffee shop.
- Freshly mowed lawn.
- Dentist’s office.
Very recognizable aren’t they? And, if you know anyone who works at any of those businesses, they usually smell like that too. In fact, you might be able to tell what a person does by their “fragrance”, and ask them about their job.
When reading 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, I noticed Paul used an idiom to tell the folks in that church they should have the fragrance of Christ and knowledge of Him:
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”
Have you been around someone new, and within a short period of time you just kind of knew they were a Christian? Their actions, demeanor, attitude, and choice of words just seemed to emanate they were saved from their sins and confident of their future? I have. And I wondered if they thought the same of me.
What about you? Can people around you tell you have the knowledge of Jesus Christ, hope, abundant and eternal life? Could you answer, if asked, as Peter told us in 1 Peter 3:15?
Just as a person working at any of the places on the list above has the recognizable aroma of their workplace (and someone might ask them about their job), so should you have the “aroma” of the knowledge of Jesus, and the hope and abundant/eternal life only He gives.
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