My car smells incredibly delicious.
Yesterday, I went to pick up lunch for my coworkers at a local barbecue place. The yummy smells of pulled pork, chicken wings, and loaded fries teased my nose all the way back to the office.
Today the fragrance lingers, reminding me of yesterday’s tasty meal.
Second Corinthians 2:14 tells us we can also leave a lingering fragrance. Not of chicken wings, but of Jesus. I like the Good News Translation: “God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance.” In other words, we are giving Christ a good name.
Psalm 23:6 also come to mind: “Surely goodness and love (mercy) will follow me all the days of my life…” There are lots of ways to look at this verse. I didn’t go to preacher’s wife school, but I picture a boat in the water leaving a wake. We all leave a wake – an impression- whether good or bad. Can you think of a Jesus follower who leaves a good feeling behind them?
When we follow Jesus, we will leave ripples, a trail behind us. What lingers after us? Is it a sweet fragrance or a stench? Do people who know us want to know Jesus?
One Sunday morning in the 1990s, a young, tired, mother named Eva decided she needed to go to church. She got her three little kids ready and headed out. But. This is where I cry every time. When she got to the church door, she was not allowed in. She was wearing pants. She couldn’t go into the church, because she wasn’t wearing a dress.
Eva was devastated. So hurt. Completely unchurched, she hadn’t known there were rules about clothing. She not only didn’t go into the church that day, but she didn’t go to any church for 25 years.
We met Eva at the jail.
She was skeptical. At first, she came for the coffee, then she came for Jesus. For months, while she was incarcerated, she came to our weekly Bible study. There, in tan scrubs and orange sandals, Eva learned of Jesus’ great love for her. Each week, we hugged her and shared God’s Word – His amazing, alive, and wonderful Word. It changed her. She came to know the real Jesus. We apologized for the day she was turned away from the church. They had left a stench, not a sweet fragrance, that had lingered for decades.
Paul wrote these words from prison: “Imitate God in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God,” Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT.
As followers of Christ, we are gonna mess up. We won’t be perfect ‘til we get to heaven. Until then, let’s strive to be a sweet fragrance of Him spreading everywhere. “Live in such a way that those who know you but don’t know Jesus, will come to know Jesus because they know you,” Unknown.
Years ago, Kathleen Runyon, a missionary to Israel, said about lost people: “Let’s love ‘em up to Jesus.” Yes, Kathleen, let’s do that!
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Dawn Reed is a pastor's wife, newspaper columnist, and the author of Weiner Stew: Inspiring Stories from Appalachia. Reach her at preacherswife7@yahoo.com.
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