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Do You Smell? May 13, 2009 • By Ed Wrather 05.13.09
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? - 2 Corinthians 2:14-16.
Someone working in an office in San Jose, California found an unplugged refrigerator that was full of nasty, moldy food, and decided to do something about it. This woman took all the food out of the fridge and put it into a conference room while she used some cleaning products to work on the refrigerator. The woman who was cleaning has allergies and was unable to smell the horrible odor that was created by the mess along with the cleaning materials. The horrific odor rapidly spread through the AT&T building in downtown San Jose. Someone called 911 and a hazmat team was sent in to investigate - by that time 28 people needed treatment for nausea and vomiting with seven needing hospitalization. What about the woman who was cleaning the refrigerator? She was probably delighted that the company had sent in a special team to help out with the cleaning, and because of her inability to smell, the odor did not bother her at all!
Did you know that some Christians smell? To some people Christians are a sweet smell and to others it appears from what the apostle Paul says that Christians smell like death. The odor of your life is spread wherever you go, by everything you do, by every interaction with others that you have. Everything that you touch in one way or another, with your life spreads a fragrance.
The fragrance of your life to some is a very sweet and wonderful smell because through your life, they are pointed to salvation in Jesus Christ. To others the fragrance of your life is the smell of death! Why is that? Some people touched by your life reject Christ and reject you because with your life you bring the judgment of God. Your life brings with it the fragrance of judgment and the knowledge of their unbelief toward Christ. Rejection of Christ as their Savior will ultimately cause eternal death, separation eternally from God.
It appears, however, that some Christians have no smell. The lost cannot smell them because they are not living their lives for the Lord. Surveys show that there is little difference in the way that the lost live their lives and the way that many Christians actually live their lives.
Can the lost smell you? Are you spreading the fragrance of Christ everywhere you go and with everything that you do? Is the fragrance of Christ spreading out from you touching life after life across this world? Live your life for Christ and not for the world and your life will have an eternal impact upon this world, just by the way, that it smells.  Visitor Comments (1) Do You Smell: Posted By JRABB on December 4, 2009 This is a great sermon that every proclaimed question to read. It tends to make one evaluate his/her Christian walk with God. It makes me ask the question, "How do I smell to God"?
I printed this sermon out and will be meditating on its context. Our neighbors, and our guests at church are likely not to be "perfect people" and they are likely not to be just like us. But Jesus still died for them, just as He died for us.
The rescue went as planned. It was the perfect plan carried out by the perfect Savior, who lived a perfect life, and died an extraordinary death. He lived, He died, and He rose again on the third day. To leave the ninety-nine and seek the one that is lost will often be inconvenient. |
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