Thanking God for My Smell?

But thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; - to the one an aroma from death to life, the other an aroma from life to life.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

For what do I give thanks?

Blessings (this is fairly obvious, and goes without saying, really)

Salvation

The greatness of God

Death’s victory

Victory in the process of living (even in the now…) - The Win!

My aroma: J  (and I’m not talking about the Estee Lauder kind)

The first picture that came to my mind when I wrote the word “aroma” brought a smile and a chuckle.  During the years that Bay and I were dorm parents at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya, I used to get a good laugh watching the guys in our dorm.  Inevitably, they’d come in late from some sports practice, and have to rush to dinner before the cafeteria closed.  Their answer to their sweat-stink was not a rapid shower, but to run upstairs, douse themselves in some kind of cologne, and sprint out the door.  Cologne only covers stink for so long…  This passage doesn’t refer to the temporary aroma that covers a bad odor.  It refers to an inside out aroma that draws others close.

Last weekend I made a quick run to my favorite antique mall.  I arrived as the doors were opening, and before long the aroma of bacon frying inside the little deli permeated the entire building.  Even though I had eaten breakfast prior to my arrival, it wasn’t long before that smell had my stomach growling and my mouth watering.  I was a classic example of Pavlov’s dog, simply reacting to an aroma. 

That’s the type of reaction we should receive to the glory of Jesus, Christ in me, the hope of glory.  An aroma of peace.  An aroma of love.  An aroma of joy.  An aroma of hope.  Of patience.  Of kindness.  Of gentleness.  Of self-control.  An aroma that causes others to react in hunger for what I have that they want, in spite of my life circumstances.  Those perishing are drawn from death to life.  Those who have life, desiring deeper life. 

That aroma seems to be connected to the “knowledge of him”…The more I know him, the more his aroma is released in me.  Perhaps that is why Paul fervently prayed, “Oh that I might know him and the fellowship of his suffering.” 

Knowing you, Jesus

Knowing you.

There is no greater thing…

You’re my all; you’re the best; you’re my joy, my righteousness…and I love you, Lord.

Know Him.  Release a sweet smell. People come close.  Recognize it as Jesus in me.  Want the same. Find life. Thankful for the possibility.