Fish and (Chocolate) Chips

Our house is on the market and that means keeping everything looking and smelling like no one lives here. That’s not easy to do because we still live here. We dig in the garden, mow the grass, do the laundry and cook and eat here.

Last Thursday, I decided to thaw and cook some perch. As I prepared to flour and fry these delectable filets we got a call from our realtor asking if it was OK for him to bring over a very interested client in a couple of hours.

Needless to say, the fish went back into the freezer! I didn’t want my house smelling like fried fish when a potential buyer walked through. As my daughter-in-law stated, “That’s the opposite of cookies-in-the-oven smell!”

No one wants their house to smell bad. We’ll go to great lengths to make sure our houses smell good, but how far are we willing to go to make sure our lives are a pleasing aroma to God and to the people with whom we spend time each day?

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.” – 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

First and foremost, we are to be a pleasant aroma to God. This means we must live as God would have us live. When we live for God, He uses us to encourage other believers and to bring the knowledge of Christ to unbelievers.

There is one aroma of Christ, but it is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To the unbeliever, the knowledge of Christ is offensive; it is an aroma that brings death. To the believer, the knowledge of Christ is tantalizing; it is the aroma of life.

How can one aroma be both offensive and attractive? It depends on who is doing the smelling. For example, cologne that I really like might be offensive to the person next to me. The cologne doesn’t change, the smeller does.

Do you find yourself trying to make Jesus smell good to unbelievers by putting away, or not talking about truths and doctrines that you think they might find offensive? When you fail to present the whole Gospel, are you tainting your aroma before God?

Our spiritual house smells good when we live our faith in such a way that others want what we have. When we do that successfully, we shouldn’t need a hard sell. We shouldn’t need to negotiate. We shouldn’t feel a need to compromise truth.

God is using you right where you live, work and play: your office, classroom, neighborhood, school bus, book club, card club, car pool, or wherever else you find yourself each day.

As Christians, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I guess you could say we are walking, talking spiritual houses. How does your spiritual house smell? Who are you trying to impress?

What would God have you clean up, put away, or add in so that you are a pleasing aroma to Him?