The Fragrance of Christ
Opening Prayer
God, may I be so filled with Your Spirit that the aroma of Christ flows from me.
Read 2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6
[12] Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, [13] I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia. [14] 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. [15] For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. [16] To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? [17] Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. [1] Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? [2] You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. [3] You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. [4] Such confidence we have through Christ before God. [5] Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. [6] He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant-not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What imagery does Paul use?You cannot see or hear smell, but it has powerful influence. Walk behind a scent-laden man or woman, and you know they’ve been there before you. Paul’s first image is of the Roman triumphal procession (14), where he is led amongst the willing slaves of Christ the victor. The more he comes to know Christ, and the closer he follows in that procession, the greater the unseen and unheard yet evocative presence of Christ is sensed by others. We don’t need the T-shirt or the badge; there’s just something profoundly of Christ about those who stay close to him. The second image is of a living letter (3:2,3), so that others might “read” Christ in our lives, as he is written on our hearts. Bearing witness to Christ is not just a matter of our words: we carry Christ with us, and the more his Spirit fills our lives, the greater the sense that God has turned up. It is not our competence that does this, but the Spirit’s work, if we allow him.
Apply
Live out your day so that the evidence of Christ is undeniable through your words and actions.
Closing prayer
Lord, keep me close to You, that others might sense the fragrance of Your presence through me.
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