2 Corinthians 2:14-15

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.

I will never forget the first time I sat next to my wife Jenny at church. I was serving as an assistant pastor at the church we attended and it was a Wednesday night service. Up to that time, we had been talking a lot on the phone and we were both growing in our confidence that God was doing something special in our relationship which could be leading to marriage, though we were still being very careful not to get ahead of the Lord. Deep inside we were beginning to care more and more for each other and yet still hadn't gone out on an 'official date'. So, needless to say, on that Wednesday night, when we decided to sit together in church, making a public statement that we cared for each other, I was as giddy as a junior high boy certain that he had met and fallen in love with the girl he would spend the rest of his life with. I will always remember the sweet smell of her perfume as we stood singing worship songs to the Lord. Truly, the Lord could have taken me home at that moment and I would have died a happy man. Her fragrance, which I still love to this day, reminds me of that wonderful Wednesday night. Oh how important it is to understand, that as Christians we are the fragrance of Christ. The word fragrance means "the characteristic of being sweet smelling". Whenever we enter a room or walk into a supermarket or mall, the fragrance of Jesus, permeates every place we go. Now, I know, sadly enough, that there are times when I walk into a room and I flat out stink! Why? Because I am more filled with myself than with Jesus. This is why it is so very important that I provide opportunity for Jesus to fill me each and every day. I think it best that we put the sweet smell of Jesus on first thing in the morning, knowing that the more we are filled with Jesus, the sweeter we smell!

Lord Jesus fill us with you, that the knowledge of You would be diffused everywhere we go. Fill us so full of You that it keeps us out of the picture and surrounds us with others who are filled so full of You that it overflows on to us thereby making our fragrance all the more sweeter. Thank you Lord, for the sweetness of your word that ministers to the depth of our hearts. In Your name we pray, Amen!

Have a sweet smelling week of getting filled with Jesus. May the Holy Spirit give you a clear sense of how you are smelling around others in order that the knowledge of Him would be diffused wherever you go.