The Fragrance of Christ

               My wife loves it when the Bath and Body store has their candles on sale. We stock up because it is very pleasant to enjoy the seasonal fragrances wafting their pleasing aroma throughout the house.

The Apostle Paul spoke about a far more pleasing fragrance in 2 Corinthians 2:14 when he said: “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”. Leading us in triumph is a phrase that Paul uses to refer to conquering Roman generals who would return to Rome leading a triumphal procession. When the commander won a complete victory over the enemy on foreign soil, he would ride in a golden chariot leading captive enemy soldiers behind him. The Roman priests would burn incense to pay tribute to the victorious army.

Jesus Christ is the great conquering general. He came into the enemy’s territory and won the victory over the devil by His death on the cross. We are His captives that He leads in triumph. Using the image of the incense, Paul pictured believers in Christ who follow Him. We become like incense, giving forth the fragrance of Jesus Christ. How can we diffuse this aroma? We can become the fragrance of Christ by our lives and by our labors. His fragrance is spread when our character resembles that of Jesus. When His love, joy and kindness are displayed in our life and when His concern for others is clearly seen it becomes an attractive aroma. We also become the fragrance of Christ when we share His gospel with others around us. When people that we share the gospel with believe, we are the fragrance of life; but to unbelievers, we are the fragrance of death.

You and I do not have to make a trip to the Bath and Body store to purchase some pleasing smells. We can become the candle ourselves. How is our aroma? Can people tell that we have been with Jesus? May we spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.