Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – there is a fragrance to my life that others can smell. I need to be responsible for the fragrance I wear.
2 Corinthians 2:15 NLT
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.
Observation
We all smell. Our lives give off a fragrance, they tell a story, and it won’t be silenced, you can’t stop your smell. What are the ingredients that make up the fragrance of your life? Forgiveness has a life-giving fragrance, people are attracted to people who receive them openly and unconditionally, just as they are, this is the fragrance of Christ. Whereas the fragrance of judgment and disdain, of condemnation and shame, is a fragrance that many encounter, and like a repulsive smell they turn away.
Some people can tone down their fragrance, while others can smell them a mile away. But spend enough time with anyone and you will know their chosen fragrance for life. God doesn’t judge us based on our fragrance. All judgment has ceased and all are made beautiful in His eyes, but He has not lost His ability of smell. He invites me into His presence where I participate in the fragrances of Heaven, and from my intimate experience I am transformed with the fragrance of Heaven, it rubs off on me. In His presence I encounter new fragrances for my life, then I bring these fragrances of Heaven to earth.
God doesn’t demand a perfume change from a distance, He invites me into His presence where His fragrance overpowers, heals, and invites me to lay down the smells of a broken world. Nothing happens from a distance in God’s economy. You can’t hear about the fragrance of love and decide to spray your life with it. God does never command a fragrance change with threats and manipulation. You must come into the presence of love for its fragrance to become your fragrance for life. It’s from the participatory presence that Christ-like fragrance becomes my fragrance, and as I walk this out on earth it rises to God and brings Him pleasure.
Application
I will live aware of the fragrance my life gives off. I will guard and be aware of my tongue, my hands, my heart, to inspect the fragrance that I am wearing and sharing. I will live always in God’s unconditional embrace, but I desire to live with a Christ-like fragrance that rises to His pleasure. I will be aware of odours that release rejection and disgust to those around me. I will frequent your presence that your fragrance may cover me and carry me.
Response
Thank you that you shape my life in beautiful ways that make my life smell great to those around me.
Meditation
Meditation truth – May my life be a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.
Consider:
How do you smell?
What story is giving fragrance to your life? Who is the author of that story?
JOURNEY DEEPER