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Daily Bible Study - kindly provided by the Bible Society

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God 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 NLT

Smells are powerful aren’t they? I can still remember some of the smells from my childhood. Many of them are associated with summer holidays when we went to the Isle of Wight and smelt the sea, the wild flowers and the beautiful fresh bread. Most of the smells that I recall were sweet although I can’t quite get over the boyhood memory of the smell of a French fish market! I love the idea that as we speak about Jesus we are spreading around sweet perfume.

When a Roman general won a military victory there would be a triumphal procession through the city. The general wore a crown of laurel and a specially embroidered purple and gold toga. He rode in a four-horse chariot through the streets in a procession with his army, prisoners and spoils of war. Along the route of the triumphal procession perfumes were sprinkled, which were a sweet smell of victory for those on the general’s side and a smell of death and defeat for those he had beaten. Paul uses this powerful picture to remind his readers that as Jesus leads us in triumph his fragrance can be smelled. A smell of triumph and joy for those who found salvation in him, and a smell of death for those who rejected him.

As we live for God today our prayer must be that there will be many who will smell the fragrance of Jesus through our kindness, understanding and compassion. We ourselves have no lovely fragrances to share but as we live closer and closer to Jesus people will not fail to pick up the sweet smell of Jesus.

QUESTION

What are you going to smell like today?

PRAYER

Lord God our Father, in a world which so often smells badly, help us today to share the fragrance of Jesus. Amen.