My Devotional: Are you an aroma of Christ?

Are you an aroma of Christ?

B Liz Omondi | Email: timestodayke@gmail.com | image courtesy: abidingsavior.church

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To one we are the smell of death and to the other the fragrance of life.And who is equal to such a task? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

We had travelled hundreds of kilometres by road and now needed to stop and take a few minutes break and perhaps even have lunch.

The journey ahead was still long, and we were not sure there would be food ready for us at our final destination. We therefore stopped by a roadside mall and entered searching for an eatery so that we could somehow appease the noisemakers in our stomachs.

The huge mall was quiet with many shops including a supermarket that seemed busy with shoppers and long queues for those at the tills ready to leave.

Looking at the mall map and identifying the floor with the mall’s food court, we quickly turned towards the stairs to go to the first floor. But it was empty with one restaurant and a waiter eager to serve us by displaying the menu while pointing towards a table for us to sit.

But something was amiss. We were the only ones there and there was no aroma of food. We wondered how long it would take to prepare the food. Perhaps they would be starting from scratch and take longer than we desired. What we really needed was some good fast food.

Looking at the menu, we scrutinised the prices and made a choice to compare with any other eateries in the mall. So we politely excused ourselves and took another route looking for an eatery. A few metres ahead, we were met by the aroma of real food. Just the kind of aroma that increased the noise of the grumblers in our stomachs. We humbly followed the sweet fragrance that led us to a restaurant with a wide choice of foods that whetted our appetites. And there we were able to make a good choice of what could satisfy our stomachs.

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul says that in his minis- try of preaching the gospel he is to God the aroma of Christ among those being saved and those who are perishing. He says that to one he is the smell of death and to the other, a fragrance of life.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, God has called each of us to ministry. He commissioned us in Matthew 28:18-20 saying,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Having been reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ, we believers have been called to the ministry of reconciliation.

The apostle Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20,

“ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation; The old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? If so, then God had committed you to the ministry of reconciliation. You are the aroma of Christ and therefore should be spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Him wherever you go, in your family, neighbourhood, marketplace and even on social media.

To those who are being saved, the Scripture tells us that you emit the fragrance of life, while to those who are perishing you will be a smell of death. Either way, like that aroma that whetted my appetite and led me to the eatery where I could satisfy my hunger, may you as an ambassador of Christ be that fragrance that leads others to Him, satisfying the hunger of those who want to have eternal life in Christ Jesus.