Smell Good!

Surely the sale of certain products are higher in the summer – sports drinks, popsicles, bags of ice.  How about deodorant?  That’s certainly one personal hygiene item not to be without during the hot summer months.  You might can get away with forgetting to brush your teeth or wash your hair but don’t even think of skipping the deodorant!

Did you know God has a sense of smell?  Several times in Scripture, we read of the sweet savor (smell) pleasing to God.  After the flood, Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to the LORD, “and the LORD smelled a sweet savour.” (Genesis 2:21)  Sweet-smelling things bring us joy – candles, perfumes, shrubs -- all pleasing to the olfactory sense (our sense of smell).  Paul reminds us when Christians walk in love, as Christ loved and gave Himself for us, our lives are “a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians  5:2).  There is, of course, a danger for opposite “odors” when Believers choose to walk contrary to godliness; God said, “I will not smell your pleasing aromas.” (Leviticus 26:31).  We know this world needs many things but one thing it truly does not need is another bad-smelling (behaving) Christian!  Followers of Christ are called to live sacrificially, be broken and spilled out for Christ, day after day after day.  This is how the fragrance of Christ emanates from our lifestyle, behavior, and speech!  We are “the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:15).  You see, this world needs more smell-good!  It needs continuous daily whiffs of Christ at every turn to contrast the odors of sinfulness everywhere.  It’s not just a “breath of fresh air” they need;  no, it’s the sweet-smelling and overpowering fragrance of The Savior.  Ask Christ to empower you today to simply … smell good!