A LINGERING FRAGRANCE

It is fair to say, that most of my days are “very ordinary”, and I can assume that that is true for most of us as we journey through our daily lives living with it’s routines and responsibilities. It would be rare, very rare indeed if we were to receive a phone call from the local newspaper or TV channel to inform us that they would like to interview us about some dramatic highlight that had occurred within the walls of our home that day that they had heard about. We just live out our “very ordinary” days in sequence, don’t we?

My mind and heart often gravitate toward a truth that I very much appreciate which is that, “God who works in the ordinary, will at times make the ordinary to become the “extraordinary” to fulfill His purpose in our life as well as in the lives of others”.

The neighborhood we currently live in has a transcendent beauty with an ever-changing panorama to accompany the seasons. When we purchased the home, which had been sorely neglected for several years, it was in desperate need of a complete overhaul both inside and out. And so, we began the work.

I tackled most of the landscape work outside, and as a result of that, I have gotten to know most of the people who live around us. Almost every inch of the yard needed to be tackled, and I often pondered, “Why Lord”? But as time went along, as I dug, chopped, weeded, mowed, people would stop amidst my moans and groans to view the progress and to see how I was doing. I came to realize that as neighbors walked their dogs, or came by as they were out for a daily jog, my visibility and availability became a purposeful plan that the Lord laid before me to be a cheerful witness for Him.

As time unfolded, late one afternoon, the doorbell rang, and it was one of those neighbors who would periodically stop by to talk as I worked. There she stood, both arms full, clutching a dish of lasagna she had just prepared and brought to me for dinner. What a delightful surprise.

Delightful on two counts. One I didn’t have to prepare it, and two, lasagna is one of my favorites. If you know anything about lasagna, you know this, the smell of garlic effuses from the dish. Mumm! What an aroma when you’re hungry.

Of course, I invited her inside for a little chat and she followed me into the kitchen where I placed her thoughtful delivery on the counter top for our dinner that night. This was a woman that whenever I had visited with, conversation was never difficult. She is one of those persons who knows both how to listen, and how to keep conversation interesting and alive.

It wasn’t long however before she said she needed to get back to her home so that she could finish preparing dinner for her family. So off she sauntered to the front door, and parting with a big hug, off she went.

So, what is it that is so special about all of this? Yes, the dinner she brought to us was both thoughtful and kind, but there was something else that occurred as a result of her visit that left a lasting impression. What was it?

When I came inside and closed the door after I bid her farewell, there was a distinct and fragrant aroma in our house. The smell of the garlic in the lasagna? No! Rather, it was the lingering scent of the cologne she was wearing. A beautiful aromatic perfume permeating the air. It wasn’t just at the entrance way, but in the living room, and all the way through to the kitchen remaining in the atmosphere for more than an hour.

As I was pondering that, the Lord brought to my mind, the Scripture:

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 “For we are to God, the fragrance of Christ.”

The presence of my neighbor lingered long after she had gone from our house – because it was what she had “adorned herself” with earlier in the day that was still oozing from the pores of her body, and left its imprint in our home.

Yes, Lord, I see!  That’s what our Savior longs for our life as we interact and rub shoulders in the lives of others.  Wherever we are, whatever we do, we are to bring the “fragrance of the love of Christ.”

I laugh when I think of consuming garlic.  You never need to announce to another that you’ve eaten garlic, because it just emits from your pores.   So, in a Spiritual sense, we don’t need to announce to others that we’ve had our “quiet time” or that we read the Bible that day hoping they see the evidence of Christ in our lives.  We don’t need to announce how many Bible studies we’ve been involved in, or how much we’re “doing for our Lord.”

Through the presence and residence of the Holy Spirit within every believer, there should be an “aroma of the character of Christ” radiating from our life.   There ought to be something about us that attracts people to the character of Jesus Christ within us.

It calls for “contagious Christian living!” 

Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

We don’t give another person a cold or the flu by just “talking about it;” we must “have the cold or flu” within us in order to infect and affect someone else.  In other words, we must be CONTAGIOUS ourselves.

In reality, if we say we are followers of Jesus Christ, there should be something about Him that exudes from the pores of our lives!   So that when others spend time with us, they’ll be affected in some tiny way by the love of God.

God can take how we live and treat others and make an impression upon the life, heart and soul of another.  That makes the ordinary extraordinary.

A WONDERFUL LIFE GOAL FOR EACH OF US…………………………….

       After people spend time with us, what do they think of Jesus?

I know I’ve shared this goal in other stories, but it bears repeating.  What do people think after:  listening to us talk about others, working alongside us, seeing how we respond to criticism or negative circumstances, observing our work ethic, and evaluating our integrity and authenticity.  We are always making an impression!   What is it?  What fragrance of Christ and His character and love do we leave?

This spiritual aroma, which results from our encounter with Christ, blesses the heart of God.   The Father loves to see the life of His Son being “expressed” in and through our daily living.

May the Lord help each of us to leave a lasting and loving fragrance of Jesus Christ, so that our lips and lifestyle permeates into every relationship, for His glory.