FRAGRANT OR FOUL

But thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing. To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume.

2nd Corinthians 2:14-16a

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL LINK

My Utmost for His Highest - 10/24/06

I have learned from my wife that everyone can’t wear the same perfume. That’s why there are so many selections in the department store. Because of body chemistry, what is pleasant smelling on one person may create a very unpleasant smell on another.

That sounds very much like what the Apostle Paul is telling us about our lives in Jesus Christ. When we have Jesus Christ living in us, we are a sweet aroma to God and to those who are saved or being drawn to Christ through us. But that same aroma has very different affect on those who are lost and perishing. It is the unpleasant smell of death and doom. That would explain why those who have no interest in the things of the Spirit don’t want to be anywhere around believers.

Pray for the perishing that they might have a change in their sense of smell. Pray that the sweet aroma of Jesus Christ might become pleasing to them.