To those individuals who sweat more than the average person, cologne and deodorant are designed to hide any stink or strong odor that your body generates. However, sometimes medial conditions may make it difficult for you to smell like you just got out of the shower. A little more than a decade ago, a severe sinus infection caused me to sweat profusely. By the time I got to work each day, I smelled like I just ran a 5K road race.
But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere, 15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 2 Corinthians 2:14-15.
In a letter to a teenager pastor, the apostle Paul writes about a different kind of stink in 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul refers to himself as the greatest sinner of all time. Perhaps, Paul was haunted by his actions in Acts 7, giving the command to have the apostle Stephen stoned in his presence. While Christians can’t undo their transgressions of the past, entering into a personal relationship with Jesus offers a sweet aroma in the above passage.
For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 7 However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves, 2 Corinthians 4:6-7.
The best way to view a Christian’s life is as a work in progress. The apostle Paul sees God as a potter and human beings as clay. God molds and fashions us into the being and designed vessel to serve the body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:1-7. Therefore, while you may experience stinky periods in life due to health and self-inflicted reasons, take off your old self and put on the spiritual cologne called Jesus, Colossians 3:1-5.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 