How do you smell?

One  night after arriving home from work I was curled up in a chair in my bedroom reading with my little dog in my lap.  Suddenly she turned up her nose and began aggressively sniffing the air.  At first I thought nothing of it and then the odor hit me -it smelled like 3 wet dogs were running loose in my house!!  Turning around I saw my husband and realized that the odor was coming from him!!  I screeched, "What in the world is that smell?" My husband, Marshall,  a residential contractor, had been working at a job and had developed an affection for the home owners Blue Heeler, Lucky.  He would often spend time playing with the dog before he came home.  If my husband's odor was any indication, that day  Lucky must have been particularly smelly.

  Unfortunately, my dear husband's olfactory senses must have been dulled because he indicated that he didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. It was beyond me how someone that smelled that badly couldn't detect the odor.  Then it dawned on me.  OH MY!!! Where else had he been?  Who else had smelled him?  He had made several stops on his way home sharing his fragrance with those whom he came in contact. Thankfully after a shower and his clothes being thrown in the washer the odor was gone from our house.

As I recounted the events of that night I began to wonder, "How do I smell?'  Scripture tells us,

"But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.  For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."                               2 Cor 2:14-15

First,  I wondered what is it that others smell?  Do we wear the fragrance everyday or just prefer to wear it on Sunday?  Do we spread the aroma to everyone with whom we come in contact?  Do we spread the scent with strangers by offering kind words or going out of my way to be helpful. We must  realize that the only smell some people may ever have of Jesus is the fragrance of  our faith and love for Him.  A bad spiritual odor will make Jesus forever "stink" to some people.

Secondly, what does God think of when He smells us?  Does the odor remind Him of the stench of rebellion or the precious smell of His Son?

The fragrance of Christ  can not be manufactured or purchased in a store, but when  we wear it the beautiful scent is recognizable.   This signature fragrance comes naturally as a result of a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.  Just as my husband smelled like the dog he had been around-we are going to smell like that with which we spend time.  As we spend time in the presence of Christ then we develop the  fragrance of the knowledge of Him. So let me ask you...how do you smell?