I have been pondering about the following questions – When Abba Father takes us to our Eternal Home one day, what kind of legacy will we leave behind and what will people one day remember about us? Do we carry the sweet aroma of Christ in our lives, so that when others meet us, they can say that they sensed our Lord’s presence in us?
2 Cor. 2:14 – 15 says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” Paul was much used to spread Christ’s aroma to all he met, even to the hour of his martyred death when he was beheaded at only the age of between 61 and 65.
In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul wrote to the Christian church which he mentored, that they welcomed the message even during severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. Verses 7 + 8a state, “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from younot only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere…” Even amid suffering, the sweet aroma of Christ was experienced broadly. Others could “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8)
In Psalm 126 we read that when the Israelites returned to Zion from a long captivity, they were filled with joy and shouted out, “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” (verse 2) The released captives’ joy and appreciation for Father God was so strong, so bold and evident that it was noticed even among other pagan nations.
What has our Lord set you free from? What kind of testimony and fragrance for Jesus do you and I radiate to others, so that they notice and sense the beauty and majesty and forgiving love of Christ? Like a lighthouse, we need to beam out the love of the Lord, even as we “pass through the valley of Baca (a place of difficulties and trials) and make it a place of springs….so that we can go from strength to strength…” (Psalms 84:6+7a)
I was drawn to one verse of a long poem whose author is not mentioned:
“As we travel through life’s shadowed valley,
Fresh springs of Christ’s love ever rise.
And we learn that our sorrows and losses,
Are blessings just sent in disguise.”
Precious Saviour, our Redeemer and Friend, please help each one of us to spread your beautiful, sweet fragrance to those who do not know You, to those who need You. May we be like a breath of fresh, revitalizing air to all we meet.
Myrtle Turunen