The Fragrance of the Knowledge of Him!

I love perfumes.  I have tried many perfumes over the years but never really stuck to one perfume.  But in the year 2000, when I visited my elder son who was then studying in the US, he bought me perfume I loved and have used since!  Fragrance is something we all like.  As we walk in, we want a 'whiff' of the perfume we are wearing to precede us and surround us!  Perfumes cover up our 'real' smell and we take great pains to achieve that!  Paul talks about a fragrance in his second letter to the Corinthians.  "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him" (2 Cor 2:14).  What Paul says of the 'fragrance of the knowledge of Christ' is both deeply striking and profoundly searching. 

What is this 'fragrance' that results from the 'knowledge' of Christ?  Even the Devil 'knows' about God! (Mt 4:5-6).  A commentator has written the following words about Paul: 'As Paul moved through the world, all who had eyes to see saw in him not only the power but the sweetness of God's redeeming love but also the mighty Victor made manifest through him.'  Wherever Paul went, he spread the fragrance of Christ.  The gospel should inevitably result in a transformed life.   When we thus live out the gospel, we spread the fragrance of Christ!  Simply put, the 'knowledge of Christ' should result in changed every day-lives.  We cannot continue living unethical lives, following corrupt business practices and claim to be a child of God!  The question we have to answer today is, what kind of 'fragrance' are we spreading?  Are we spreading unkind words, unlawful deeds, chasing ungodly goals in life?  Are we filled with envy, hatred, deceit and crookedness, contrary to the Words of Christ?  

My friend, the character of Christ should be evident in our everyday lives!  The character of Christ can be revealed in us only when we commit ourselves to reading, meditating and obeying the Word of God (The Bible) every day.  If our lives are not changed, it means we 'know' about God but do not 'know' God personally.  Let our prayer today be, 'Lord, make me more like Thee, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing" ( 2 Cor 2:15).

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