A Sweet Aroma

This morning as I hugged and kissed my wife goodbye, my hands touched her face in a tender moment. It was a sweet way to start the day, and I loved it.

About three hours later I was sitting at my desk, working on some type of paperwork and I rested my face against my hand. Suddenly I got a faint whisper of my wife’s perfume. I was whisked back to this morning, and that sweet embrace. Over the next couple of hours I moved my hand to my face to breathe in the essence of the love of my life. It was just a whiff of perfume, but it reminded me of her, and all that she means to me.

My wife is very special to me. We have been through thick and thin, mostly me being thick and her being thin! We have had times when we had nothing, yet we held on. Everything we’ve gone through could have torn us apart, but it has brought us closer together. Her perfume was a sweet reminder that I have no closer friend on earth, and no person who means more to me. The scent became a way of being with her. In the same way, Christians are a supposed to be a whiff of God everywhere they go. As we walk the hallways at work, school, or even Wal Mart, a faint vapor trail that reminds others of the God we serve should follow us wherever we go.

2 Corinthians 2:14,15 14 Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.

When you pass among the people you see each day, and even the ones you don’t see, what is their impression? When they see you, who do they see? Are you representing God and his love for you and for the world by the things you say and do? Can the world smell Jesus on you?

Imagine eating at a burger restaurant. As you walk in the front door the scent of onions, fresh baked bread and grilled burgers draws you in and makes you even hungrier. You order a huge bacon cheeseburger and fries and sit at the table in anticipation, the great aroma making you hungrier and hungrier. When your burger finally lands in front of you, you raise it to your lips, and take a big bite, expecting a carnivorous nirvana. Instead, you got a mouthful of half done meat that tastes like it had been left on the counter too long. What a disappointment! The aroma and the reality didn’t line up.

So what are you? A whiff of sweet perfume that reminds others of a great Savior, or a burger that smells great but doesn’t quite live up to its promise? It’s up to you. Maybe you’re the one who has been noticing the sweet smell of God through Christians around you. You see their lives, the peace they have and you can’t help thinking they have something you don’t have. They do, but you can have it as well. All it takes is a simple prayer that accepts God’s forgiveness. Then find a church that can nurture your new life and help you grow. The next thing you know, you are the one who others look to, and you get a chance to make their lives better. It’s a great way to live.

Basking in the scent of my wife’s perfume… Jerry