Awake

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. -Paul, 2 Co. 2:15

In case you were unaware, if you're a human, chances are that you possess all five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell; and only one of those has full capability of bringing you back to the full sensory experience: smell. I work in the coffee industry...meaning my job is to create sensory experiences for my customers. By 5:30 am there is not a line out the door so that people can simply get their dose of caffeine to wake up; there is a line out the door because the customer knows they are guaranteed whatever that thing is that allows a person to have connection with something good from an earlier day. Think about it: Why do you wake up and crave your cup of coffee or cinnamon pancakes? Because at an earlier time that same scent was linked to something positive and powerful. You crave your bowl of raspberry granola because the aroma lingers in the back of your mind...you start envisioning how good it tasted before, the experience that surrounded that bowl of granola: perhaps a good conversation, the feel of your dogs soft fur between your fingers, the energy that yields from a full night's sleep. The aroma of the experience lingers in your mind.

Catch this: An aroma is not a scent. The two are distinctly different. One (a scent) fades...it is a transient slight of air that disappears when other senses kick in. The second (an aroma) exceeds both time and place. It is something which is carried around, much like the smell of cassis perfume on a woman's blouse, still present hours after she puts it on. Similarly, God calls us out as the aroma of Christ; since Christ no longer walks around on earth, we cannot smell Him. This has to be why we study how to follow Him and be more like Him through scripture. Our mission is to exude the scent of Christ and to be Him to others. We are to carry with us at all times, the eau de parfum o christ on our shirts.  We are the ones being held accountable for those who are being saved and those who are perishing based on if we carry the aroma of Christ. If those who walk behind us and follow in our footsteps smell musty soil or rancid milk exuded from our bodies, there is no way they can smell the beauty of Christ. So lets wake up, take a deep breath, and not forget what Christ smells like.