06/27/2018
How do you smell today? Are you fragrant like a flower, sweet like honey, have the smell of sweat and toil, or are you rancid like death? The Bible speaks about smell in many ways, but none more powerful than when it speaks of the fragrance of life, and death on us. When we think of scent we most often think of the smells that surround us, but we are one of those odors... how do you smell spiritually today?
“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?”
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 ESV
Last night my wife and I had dinner with two wonderful friends, and the smell of our meals made our mouths water with anticipation. This was life, and we were enjoying it in friendship, and basking in the moment of renewed relationship. We were friends that had been made Old by time and distance, but renewed by reunion and the breaking of bread. It was a wonderful evening and the scent and taste of friendship was pleasant, and strong.
Later, after saying goodbye to our friends, Ann and I were driving home and talking about how much fun the evening had been, when suddenly an animal ran into my headlights. I quickly assessed by the way that it moved that this was a skunk. I glanced up to see if I could swerve to avoid it but there was a car beside me, and one approaching... so I did all I could do and straddled it. The sickening sound of the animal being hit and rolled beneath my car saddened me, and I looked back to see it in the headlights of the car following me... still in the road.
Our joyous mood was dampened, and then slowly we began to smell the scent of the skunk. It was permeating the car as it was carried throughout by the fan and air conditioner. At first the smell was strong, but as we drove it dissipated; we could still smell it, but not nearly so bad.
When I pulled into the driveway I left the car outside so that it would not smell up the house from within the garage, and we went inside... still talking about the evening, and the skunk too. It didn’t take us long to realize that our clothes now carried the scent of the skunk... we hadn’t been anywhere near the entrails, but the mere forcefulness of the odor had left its mark on us; so all of our clothes were shed, and went immediately into the wash.
“My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,”
Psalms 38:5 ESV
This is how we are in faith when we come into contact with sin. We don’t have to touch it, but by simply being in close proximity it leaves a scent upon us. Sometimes we smell it as a bad feeling, sometimes a sense of guilt, or maybe even at the judgement of someone who witnessed us near it. Regardless, it leaves its scent on us, and to shed it we have to wash ourselves clean.
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Psalms 51:2-3 ESV
Have you ever been here? Have you felt dirty by being close to something filthy? When this happens we have to bathe ourselves, either in soap and water, or in prayer, depending on whether the association was physical or spiritual.
Spiritually we should carry with us the aroma of Christ. It is a smell that draws others to us, and causes them to want the same life that they see and smell about us. We should be careful to distance ourselves from those things that diminish the aroma of Jesus that we carry. If however, we should find ourselves tainted (similar to the skunk scent), and covered in the smell of sin and death, there is hope... there is prayer, contrition, water, and oil, to cleanse and purify us. Then once purified we need to come back into a closeness with Christ and He will cover us again in His scent.
I still feel bad about the skunk that lost its life, and our car which will need a very good undercarriage wash... but I am thankful for this lesson of life and the reminder of our aroma of Christ. If your spiritual journey finds you in a place where you smell like death... there is hope! Your scent can be changed... it is the nature of faith. Change your scent!
“"Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.”
Jeremiah 48:11 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for a wonderful evening of fellowship with good friends, and even though I inadvertently killed one of your creatures, I thank you for the lesson that wafted up from that occurrence. On the one hand, I recall the wonderful aroma of life and friendship with friends, and on the other, I find remorse in the smell of death on the road. Help me Father as I go through my day today... help me to cling to the aroma of Jesus Christ while avoiding the smell of sin and death. Cleanse me when I find myself tainted, and dine with me when your sweet aroma is restored to me. You are pleasing to my senses Lord; help me to be pleasing to you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, the incense of my life, and the aroma of eternity.
Rich Forbes