As I walked by one of the back rooms of the house, I noticed a very faint, pleasant fragrance. I didn’t think anything about it. About the third time this happened, it got my attention. I thought, “Hmm, what is this sweet fragrance. I’ve not noticed it before.” I followed the scent and looked around the bedroom then the bathroom. Then I remembered! I had put out a new bar of soap in the shower. Barb buys these big bars of soap that last a long time, and they are usually all different scents. That bar of soap was wafting its particular fragrance through the bathroom, into the bedroom, and down the hall. It was barely perceptible in the hall, but it was there. When it really got my attention I wanted to find the source.
Paul told the Ephesians that as we walk in love as Christ walked in love for us, it is a “sweetsmelling savour” (a very pleasing fragrance) to God. Jesus gave himself as an offering and a sacrifice for us for our good and benefit. As we offer ourselves as an offering and sacrifice to God, we too, become a pleasant fragrance to him. Paul said to the Corinthians as we triumph in Christ in this love walk, and our lifestyle and demeanor shows the knowledge of him in every place, we are a sweet fragrance to God and to people. To people who are perishing, we are a fragrance of death to death, and to saved people we are a fragrance of life to life (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). As our lifestyle and behavior reflects the lifestyle and behavior of Christ, then we are that pleasant fragrance to God and man. Not every person likes what they smell, but if it is Christ in us, God enjoys it and those who love God enjoy it. What we, as believers want to do, is make sure we are generating the pleasant fragrance from the love of Christ, and not some acrid odor of the flesh from the love of self. Every bar of soap has a different fragrance, but they are all pleasant. Every personality is different, but we all can be permeated by the same love of Christ which is a godly, merciful, and compassionate love. It’s like the old song, “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, that’s just one thing, there’s just too little of”. This love will boldly take the knowledge of God to the street because it will have a pure life to back it up. It can be an unrelenting warrior when needed, but it is also gentle, wise, and always seeking a way to benefit the situation. This is what Jesus did by living in the supernatural power of the Spirit of God. By God’s power he brought help, healing, wholeness, and eternal life to those who had ears to hear. This is the sweet fragrance God enjoys that draws men to God. It is Christ expressed.
