Do You Smell?
Ponder: The fragrance of Christ
Scripture: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15 NKJV).
This isn’t an ad for antiperspirant or cologne! But Christians really do have a peculiar odor – or at least we should. Through us, God “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 unto death, and to the other the aroma of life unto life” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16a).
Christians ought to smell like Christ! We ought to think, act, and teach in such ways that, by “smelling” (observing) us, the world learns what Jesus is like.
To those who desire salvation, the fragrance of Christ is the aroma of life unto life. Here’s how it works: God, through Christian teachers, diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. Those who wish to be saved find the aroma attractive – the aroma of life! They respond in faith and obedience, thus receiving eternal life. And they love Christians who radiate the delicious aroma of Christ.
The majority, however, find the aroma of Christ repulsive – like the stench of death! His teaching and His demands are incompatible with their worldly lusts. They would rather perish than repent. In rejecting the gospel, they seal their own fate of eternal death. Because we Christians smell like Christ, worldlings find us to be repulsive also. Sometimes they even persecute us.
People spend countless millions of dollars on fragrance. God gave us the aroma of Christ for free.
Do you smell?
Song: “Let the Beauty of Jesus be Seen in Me”
Prayer: Blessed Father, we praise and thank You for Your Son, Jesus the Christ, Whom You sent to save us. Help us, we pray, to behave like faithful disciples of Jesus, that the world may clearly detect His scent upon us. In His name, Amen.
Joe Slater (Justin, TX)