Eliminating Odors “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” 2Cor. 2:15-16 Six days a week, Dad and I ran a rural paper route together. The route was through much cattle, dairy and hog farming land. There were a variety of potent smells along this route. Worse smelling than all others were the two huge hog farms. It was a half mile of pure torture. One day we stopped at a general store in the rural town. Inside the store, I was complaining about the stench of the hog farms. A woman spoke into the conversation, I was having with the clerk. She said, “Honey, that doesn’t stink. It sure smells like money to me.” Another farmer’s wife spoke into the conversation, “Young lady, you just never learned what money smells like.” Obviously, both these women appreciated something I didn’t understand. Matthew 5:11 Jesus says, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” Today, more than any other time in our nation, people are ridiculing Christians. We’re pointed at as ‘intolerant,’ ‘bigots,’ ‘politically incorrect.’ Man made ‘good’ is heralded as wonderful. Godliness is ‘inconsiderate.’ We are odious—we stink. “To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom” NLT. “Those who are perishing” don’t comprehend about the goodness of our Lord and Savior. Like I didn’t appreciate the ‘smell’ of money, they don’t appreciate the fragrance of Christ. 1Cor. 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” It is foolishness to them. Our job is to sow seeds of God’s love and goodness into their lives. Pray for them. God will send along others to water with His Word, (1Cor.3:6-8). He will even send a harvest. A girl dated our neighbor boy. They were perishing. Our family steadily loved them and sowed seed into their lives. At first they ridiculed us. Eventually they broke up. About ten years later, I ran into her in a neighboring town. She grabbed and hugged me. Teary eyed, she thanked me for our family’s diligence in loving her and sowing seed into her. They’d broken up because she yearned for our smell. Salvation had came. Then marriage to a Christian. Now, she stands in the role of pastor’s wife. Jesus said this, not me, Mt. 5:44NLV “But I tell you, love those who hate you...Pray for those who do bad things to you and who make it hard for you.” Eliminate odor by sowing those seeds, or not. It’s your choice. You choose. by Debbie Veilleux You have my permission to repost or share this devotional for others. Please keep my name with it as author. Thank you.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:50:01 +0000
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