Death and Doom or Life-Giving Perfume

“To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?” (2 Corinthians 2:16 NLT)

Soon holiday scents of pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie, baked turkey and ham, fresh-cut trees, sugar cookies, eggnog,  gingerbread, and pralines will fill the air. But people perceive things differently; some may think Umm, for the aromas, or, Ugh, for the odors. The same is true of perfume. It was my recent pleasure to be unexpectedly greeted in the grocery store with, “I thought I smelled your perfume!” My daughter, known for her keen sense of smell, recognized a familiar fragrance, followed it, and found me.

As believers surrender to God’s service and tell what He has done, the sweet-smelling fragrance of Christ will permeate the air. But the perfume we carry is perceived differently: People hungry to know God receive the news as a refreshing fragrance and become His child. Others find the news offensive—the odor of death to the life they want to keep—so they choose to reject God and His Son. By doing so, instead of everlasting life with God, they receive God’s condemnation and eternal separation from Him. Each person who hears what God offers perceives the message and its bearers as the smell of “death and doom” or a “life-giving perfume”—their decision of which scent to follow is for eternity. But the question is: Does the aroma of your life draw others to seek and find Jesus?