Spring is in the air! This year there seem to be so many vibrant, colorful blooms everywhere! I have heard many commenting especially on how beautiful the lilac bushes are this year. My mom has a lilac bush in her yard, and it is loaded with blossoms. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but they also smell so lovely!
Sometimes around this time of year, I’ve noticed the classrooms in our building seem to also have a strong aroma. Unfortunately, it is not usually a pleasant scent! Lots of warm, sweaty bodies in a closed room will create a memorable fragrance of their own.
A week or two ago, for some reason, the smell of the cafeteria lunch was unusually strong in our hallways. I do not know why, but it was pungent. I think it was the smell of the corn that was served that day that was permeating the hallways, but I'm not really certain. I happened to be in the hallway as several of the youngest classes were entering the hallways to wash and head to lunch. The smell was so noticeable that every class of students immediately asked, “What is that smell?!” Many of the students even pulled their shirts up over their noses or pinched their nostrils against what was, to them, a very offensive odor.
Smells often have a very strong memory trigger for most of us. My daughter was chewing a piece of gum in our van this weekend, and the spearmint-y smell sparked a conversation about my grandmother, who often bears the same spearmint-y smell because of the cream she uses to ease her arthritis pain.
There are probably many smells to which you have a strong memory attached, as well. Maybe a perfume or soap of a loved one. Maybe a special scent from a holiday tradition that you grew up with. Maybe a particular flower that is a favorite. Maybe it’s a specific food smell that is deeply connected to a memory for you. When you catch even a tiny whiff of one of these smells, you probably immediately take a deeper breath to draw in more -- maybe even closing your eyes to intensify that wonderful fragrance and revel in the memories that come flooding back with it.
These verses from 2 Corinthians, chapter 2, say that we (believers and followers of Christ) are a pleasant aroma to God - an aroma that He uses to spread the knowledge of Himself. My “Life Application Bible” has a note that explains this further. It says, “In a Roman triumphal procession, the Roman general would display his treasures and captives amidst a cloud of incense burned for the gods . . . .” We, in Christ, are that treasure to God. I love the thought that God experiences that thrill of pleasure over me!
But I also feel the conviction that I may not be such a pleasing aroma to others around me. When I am critical, when I am negative, when I allow the stress of life’s busy-ness to drain my energy and shorten my temper, I am not likely to be labeled as a “pleasant aroma” to those around me. I am more likely to get the response of the nose-wrinkling, nostril-pinching young students I encountered!
When others see Christ in me, though, that should be a wonderful fragrance that makes them want to inhale deeply and enjoy for a bit. When I am full of His joy and love and peace, that should be just as uncontainable as a strong perfume in the air. It should overflow and be evident to all those around me. It should be something appealing that draws people in and leaves them wanting to experience more.
I pray that I can be more like that each day -- starting today!
God, help me to be a pleasant fragrance to those around me -- a fragrance that draws people to You and helps their knowledge of You to grow. But I can’t do that on my own, Lord. I need You to work in me to make Yourself known. Help me to always cooperate with Your Holy Spirit and teach me to recognize when I am not so that I can be a pleasing aroma to You and to all those around me.
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