It’s funny how a particular aroma or odor can trigger certain thoughts, feelings, or memories.
A couple of days ago, I was out taking an early morning walk. I try to do this on a regular basis, partly for exercise but primarily because I feel that I better connect with God when I’m in the midst of His creation than when I’m at my kitchen table. But that’s just me. Anyway, on this particular morning I happened to be thinking and praying about the lost – the millions of people scattered throughout hundreds of countries across the globe that don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In the midst of my praying, a garbage truck sped by, and immediately the odor of garbage filled my nostrils. Just as quickly, thoughts and images of Manzanillo, Costa Rica and Tumbaco, Ecuador flooded my mind. The smell from the truck was remarkably similar to the smell of those poor, garbage-strewn towns that I’ve had the privilege of visiting and in which I’ve shared the gospel. As the garbage truck drove off, I found myself praying for specific faces and names of individuals I’d encountered in those two towns.
Here’s a somewhat related question: how do you and I smell? Not literally, but figuratively. In 2 Cor. 2, Paul refers to believers as “the aroma of Christ” (v.15), and he says that through us God “spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (v.14). Wherever we go, people ought to recognize that we are markedly different from those in the world because of our relationship with Christ. Our “scent” should exhort believers to live holy lives and should convict nonbelievers of what’s missing in their lives. But sadly, many believers today smell just like the world. There’s nothing distinctive about their “scent” that would catch the attention of an unbelieving world.
So how do you smell? Do you carry the putrid stench of the world? Or do you give off the sweet-smelling aroma of Jesus to a lost world?
