I stepped out of my house the other day and was met with the most unpleasant aromatic experience. All of my nasal faculties were engulfed with an awful stench. With no particularly perceptive detective skills, I was immediately able to identify the source of that pungent odor as the agrarian application of animal waste. What an unpleasant experience! However, some people depend on the source of that smell for their livelihood. I have an uncle whose livelihood depends on the raising of swine. Whenever we mentioned the unpleasant nature of breathing in the putrid air surrounding his property, he always got a twinkle in his eye and stated, “It smells like money to me!”
Did you know that humans also give off an aroma? And I am not talking about a smell that you can internalize through your nostrils (although that is certainly true of some). 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 says, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” Do you have the aroma of Christ spreading out around you? Do you understand why some perceive this aroma as particularly distasteful while others see it as life itself?
Submitted by Pastor Jay
