Heart Tracks - Where We Live

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Corinthians 2:14-15....."We are not to abide in Christ so that we get results in our work. We are to abide in Christ so that we are transformed into His image; we begin to look, sound, and yes, even smell like Him." Karen, a missionary to Central and Eastern Europe

I read an illustration of the meaning of 2 Corinthians 2...The writer remembered a time they worked in a store located next to an onion packing plant. She said that every Friday, on payday, the workers would come to the store to purchase needed items. She could always tell the workers from other customers in that they smelled of onions. She said the aroma was "a natural outcome of where they spent their lives, day in and day out." They lived in the atmosphere of that plant and the result was an aroma that proved it. Should it not be that the people of God should live in the atmosphere of heaven as did, and as does Jesus Christ, and therefore give off the aroma, the fragrance of heaven? Should it not be, but is it? Christians, followers of Christ may say a lot about Him, about heaven, even about holiness. Does the fragrance of our lives prove that we live in the atmosphere of all that, or are our words made null and void because, in the end, the fragrance of our lives doesn't smell any different than those who are of the world?

We live in a fallen world, and definitely a fallen culture, but that doesn't mean we have to carry the soil of that world, or be defined by it. We know that we're to abide in Him, but too often that's reduced to our worship time on Sunday, or our weekly Bible study or prayer group. As for being a fragrance, too often we think that is connected to what we do and achieve, but it's not. It's to be the essence of who we are. The appearance of success can mean a lot more to us than the essence of really abiding in Him. We can do lot for Him, but our fragrance remains little more than rotted flesh.

In my prayer journal, I've marked down the question, "Has anyone ever remarked about me, us, that there is a definite presence of Christ about us?" Not remarked about how active we are in our church, or how many we've invited to church, or what great ministry we've built, but simply, how clearly they see, and yes, smell Jesus in our lives? This comes about only by abiding in the atmosphere of the Kingdom. We smell like the places we abide in. We give off the aroma of where we live. If we're "abiding" in the places of bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, or secret sin, the fragrance of those places is going to show through our lives, no matter how much we're "doing for Him." The only way out is to abide in Him....and His fragrance. And like those workers in the plant, we give off that aroma and identify to whoever we may be among, both those who know Him, and those who don't.

When Jesus had His experience on the Mt. Of Transfiguration, Peter, John, and James were with Him. At that place, the glory of the Father was manifested. They were literally in the atmosphere of heaven. They saw Christ as He was and is, fully man, and fully God. Afterwards, they came down from the mountain and into the valley, where they encountered a father and his demon possessed son. None of the disciples, including the three who'd been with Jesus, could help the boy. Jesus could, and did. Why couldn't the three, who'd basked in that atmosphere, do nothing? It was because when they descended, they left the atmosphere they'd been in. Christ did not. He lived in that atmosphere but the three didn't. They were once again breathing the air of a fallen world while Christ the King lived and breathed the air of the Kingdom.

We're going to smell like where we live. Where are we living today? Does the fragrance and witness of our lives betray the words and witness of our mouths? In John 2, the disciples asked Jesus where He was staying, where He was abiding. He answered, "Come and see." He invites us as well.....into the atmosphere in which He lives. Will we live there as well? Or, despite our words, choose to live somewhere else?

Blessings,
Pastor O