Last week, a few men from the church and I went to the mountains of NC for a weekend retreat at my parent’s house. This house has been passed down through my family, and it always lifts my spirit just to be there in Burnsville, NC, but this time, the weather was extremely beautiful spring weather, and everything was in bloom; it was tremendous! Just off of the road by the driveway of the house stood a lilac bush in full bloom, and when I stood by the bush, I could smell the sweet smell of the blossoms. I closed my eyes, and moved in for a closer sniff, and the blooms’ aroma was heavenly.
It is not as common to come across good smelling things in our world as it is to encounter not-so-good smelling things. Why? Because our world is decaying as a a result of sin. The decaying world is full of decaying people and animals, and therefore has its share of horrid smells. But how wonderful it is when we can catch a whiff of a sweet smelling flower, or of a new recipe from the kitchen, or of pine trees on a mountainside – all of these restore the spirit.
I did not write this blog, however, just to talk about trees, flowers, and fresh-baked apple pies. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15,
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour (smell) of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish….”
This is a good smell in a decaying world of sin; it is the smell of the Gospel in the lives and words of the Christians. The Bible says that God makes us this wonderful smell by giving us the words to say and lives to live to show the Gospel to others. The good smell is actually the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but we are the bearers of this knowledge.
The real disappointment of flowers is not those that smell good, but those that do not smell at all. They may be beautiful, and at first seeing them, you think, “I bet these flowers smell wonderful.” But then your nose comes into testing range, and there is no smell – this is a great disappointment. How frustrating to God and to the world, that is in such need of good smelling things, when a Christian only looks like a Christian, but does not have the wonderful aromas of the Gospel surrounding his/her life. May we not hinder the sweet savor that God desires to emanate from our lives – the savor of Christ. In a world of decay, may the Gospel and its wonderful smell be made to float from our lives into the nostrils of dying men bringing hope and joy.
