I have an extremely sensitive nose. It's both a blessing and a curse.
I love good smells: freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, my husband's neck when I'm all nestled in his arms, Cinnabon cinnamon rolls as I walk past them in the mall, coffee brewing in the morning, my mom when she hugs me, and my newborn babies.
All of these smells make me happy. They make me want more. They signify the promise of goodness to come. They all have something in common. They make me think of the feeling of home. I'm at home in my husband's arms, in my mom's hugs, holding my babies and anticipating the tastes to come out of the oven. And I want the feeling of home forever. I don't want it to go away.
When I read in 2 Corinthians that "I am the fragrance of Christ", I wonder....
Do I remind people of Christ? Do I make them happily anticipate the taste of heaven to come? Heaven is the goodness promised to us. Do I make them want more of Jesus? Do I send them running or make them feel at home in the aroma of Christ's love?
Here's the thing: because I have a sensitive nose, too much of a good smell makes me sneeze. My husband loves to wear cologne for instance. But waking up to that smell in the morning makes me sick. Literally sick. It "stings the nostrils" and I'm not even kidding. It's too much for me to take and so now he knows, if he wants to put it on he has to go outside. Poor guy. See, God doesn't want us forcing Christ on people. Our lives should be an aroma, naturally affecting those around us..."to those who are being saved and among those who are perishing". Our aroma draws them in, and makes them feel comfortable enough to make themselves at home.
Imagine those living in the aroma or death. I can think of a hundred terrible smells, but the one that most readily comes to mind is when my husband lets one rip. Seriously, he wasn't nicknamed "Fartin' Martin" for nothing. This smell makes people want to run. It makes you think that something has gone terribly wrong. It makes you want to sing like Phoebe, "smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?" ...All you want to do is grab the closest spray bottle and shove it .... okay, not tactful sal. But ....you want to cover your nose, and spray a fancy bouquet of flowers all over the room! The interesting thing about this is....it doesn't bother him. He is fine with walking around in his own foulness. This must be what it is like when Paul describes the "aroma from death to death". To those who are perishing, the aroma may be too much for them if we overdo the spray bottle. Christ give us an aroma that gently seeps in, revealing something more appealing to the senses. The perishing then find that they can live in this sweet aroma, too, instead of the filthy smell of death.
My prayer is that my aroma is just right. I don't want to be an overwhelming Bible beater, judging and telling everyone what they're doing wrong. I don't want to dwell in my old nature and be okay walking around in the aroma of death either. I want to continue to know Him more, so that He can do His work in me, and His sweet aroma can manifest itself through me.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17
vs 17 says..."For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God."
