A woman walked past me and the aroma of her perfume was so sweet and appealing that I turned and looked at her as she walked away. It reminded me of the perfume of a dear lady who took me under her wing as a child. I stood for a moment savoring the smell and the memory.
My thoughts took another bent… I wonder how I smell? Not that I wear perfume or cologne but what aroma do my actions leave in the lives of those with whom I come in contact? What do others think when I walk past? Am I patient, kind and others focused so that I leave a fragrance after I walk by? Or do I live solely focused on my agenda, self-centered and impatient, demanding or uncaring? To be honest, the latter scenario is too often the reality.
I do want to be a “sweet aroma” to my family, friends, neighbors and associates at work. I want to leave a pleasant aroma for those causal encounters with clerks and service people with whom I come in contact, a smell that lingers even after I am gone.
I want to be the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ in every place… How about you?
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in 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 death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?”
–2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NASB)
By Mike Woodard
Used by Permission
FURTHER READING
• A Lingering Aroma – by Marilyn Ehle
• The Fragrance – by Rod Marshall
• My Lord, My Companion – by Hope Tshuma