102614 Are You Smelly?

When we think of someone being smelly, we usually think of a person having an unfavorable odor. Perhaps you recall an individual who passed by you recently who had just been out exercising and you smelled their sweaty attire. Maybe you scrunch your face up as you call to mind the time you walked past a homeless person whose clothes reeked of stale urine. Or you may remember the middle-school boy who got carried away with his dad’s cologne before attending his first school dance.

But then there are the pleasant smells. A fragrant rose, coffee brewing in the morning, bacon sizzling in the skillet, fried chicken, and freshly baked bread are among my top favorite scents. We tend to smile when our preferred aromas are in the air. According to smithsonianmag.com, “Airborne molecules that elicit a reaction in a member of the same species are called pheromones,” and “people perceive all sorts of interesting things about one another through olfaction [smell].”

I have heard it said that smell is an extremely powerful memory trigger as well. Upon getting a whiff of a particular perfume, you might remember the name of that most loved (or most hated) schoolteacher of whom you haven’t thought in years. Every time you get your oil changed you could think of your dad because the smells of the auto mechanic’s shop trigger visions of him in the garage working on an old engine. And what would Thanksgiving and Christmas be like without the blended aromas of all your childhood favorites wafting from the kitchen and making your mouth water?

God’s word has something to say about how we smell. In the Contemporary English Version (CEV) of the Bible, Second Corinthians 2:15a says, “In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone.” Since we smell like someone we’ve been close to, like someone we have rubbed up against, we carry the scent of Christ to those with whom we come in contact. So the question is: are you smelly? Worship God today for being so pungent with His grace that it gets all over us, so much so that others “smell” and react to Him when they get close to us.

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©2014 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

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Boomerangs to Arrows: A Godly Guide for Launching Young Adult Children

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Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame

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