What's That Smell?

[behold, another long one.]

"A woman should, at the very least, always smell good."

Amen. I read that statement and it just put my motto into words.. I take a lot of "pride" in smelling good. One of my very favorite compliments is "Oo, you smell good!" Why thank you! I'm not sure why I find it so important. Perhaps it's because smells are inviting? Or because good smells are attractive? Maybe because it represents cleanliness? Though, I think my primary reason is because it is something that is very unique. Nobody else will ever smell like me.. ever. You may use Old Spice soap and Versace perfume just like I do, but we will never smell the same. Our bodies are different. We secrete different pheromones, which are responsible for the way others perceive us and behave towards us. Crazy, right? These chemicals are the reason behind so many other "natural" occurrences in our life, but what I really want to express is that they are yours. Specific to you. Designed by God and produced through you; nobody else will ever smell exactly like you. So when you wear perfume, it reacts with the pheromones to give you a scent uniquely yours.

But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.

2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Wow! Our knowledge of Christ is a perfume. Our lives are a fragrance rising up to God and our fragrance is Christ-like. The way YOU smell to God, reminds Him of JESUS! Is that not incredible?! You wanna talk about the best, most attractive smell ever? That's it. Can you imagine being so much like Jesus that when God catches a whiff of you He thinks of His Son? Especially considering how unique our fragrances are. So, that has become my new goal, to become so Christ-like that the Lord smells me and thinks of His Son.. Just like a fond memory evoked by a sweet smell, something we can all relate to. Popcorn = Movies. So, Mollie = Jesus? .. I can't wrap my brain around it. But I am trying.

So what affects this? The KNOWLEDGE of Christ. You must be constantly seeking Him. You can't be "like" something that you don't even know about.. But then there is another thing. In my life, it is the more difficult of the two. We have to be a fragrance perceived be others. We have to make sure others smell us. But more so, we have to make sure they know WHAT they are smelling! I have no trouble reading my bible and gaining knowledge of the Lord, but when it comes to speaking- I clam up. It says our fragrance is perceived differently, depending on the who is smelling it.. It's like waking up on Saturday morning to a great smell filling the house, you aren't sure what it is, but it's breakfast time and YOU WANT SOME. So you get up and get it. Perhaps this is what the scent is to those who are being saved. They smell it, it smells good, they want it, they chase it. . But the Word says the same sweet smell that God delights in smells like death and doom to those who are perishing. So i'm thinking about this and I'm doing my best to figure it out.. I think maybe these that are perishing have gotten a bad whiff of the "Christ-like perfume" at some point in their lives, and nobody has taken the time to just sit with them and let the true fragrance of the Lord fill their nostrils. If I am smelling like Christ, it is because I AM LIKE CHRIST, right? In that case, it is completely my responsibility to go out to those that are perishing and introduce them to the beautiful, sweet fragrance. To spend my time with them, and show them all that the Lord has in store for them.

So to bring it back around.. My Christ-like life reminds God of His Son, my Savior, and He has designed my knowledge of Jesus to present a sweet and inviting smell to everyone I come in contact with. And In order to act as He has designed me to, I must constantly seek further knowledge of Christ and become more like Him.

I want to smell like Jesus. I want others to want to smell like the Jesus they smell on me. I want the Lord to delight in my fragrance. This is one of my newest goals.

Until next time,

Mollie.