Perceive

Perceive

Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.

MY MOM LOST her sense of smell years ago for reasons unknown. Occasionally, she’ll catch a whiff of something, but it’s rare.

One day as we were driving down the road, she happened to notice a scent.

“What’s that sweet smell?” she asked.

My sisters and I exchanged amused looks in the backseat. “Mom, it’s a skunk!”

“Oh,” she shrugged, laughing a bit. “Well, I didn’t know. That’s what it smelled like to me.”

I’m thankful that my own sense of smell is intact, but the story is a good reminder that the way we experience the world around us does not always accurately reflect what is true about God’s Kingdom. How God perceives the world and its inhabitants is often different from our human understanding. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, reminds the church that believers’ lives give off a fragrance that rises to God. Meyer’s New Testament Commentary describes the fragrance of our lives as something positive, akin to “the odours of incense that accompanied the triumphal procession; these are to God a fragrance, redolent to Him of Christ.” It’s interesting that something welcoming to God—incense in the triumphal procession—is likely perceived with indifference by some or perhaps even negatively by others.

Yet the upside-down nature of God’s economy often seems counterintuitive to our human understanding. The last are first, the first last. The poor are blessed. Loving our enemies, giving away our wealth, and putting others first are the opposite of what this world values. Humility, meekness, weakness—all are positive characteristics. No wonder the “fragrance” of our lives is perceived differently. Rather than something worrisome, what a relief this should be! Instead of worrying so much about what other people around us think of our lives, let’s focus on pleasing God. His is the only opinion that matters.

Lord, may our lives please you. Help us to perceive the world around us with your eyes and ears, open to experiencing this life with your perspective firmly fixed in our minds. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: Read Luke 6:20-49. What do these verses reveal about how Jesus sees the world versus how man sees it?