Incredible Evangelists

Women love perfumes! While some feel perfumes cause headaches, throat irritation, respiratory problems, and so on, it is interesting to notice how women love to radiate sweet fragrances around them. We love to place fragrances in different areas around our homes (especially in our wardrobes), in our cars, in our offices, and many other places.

I recently visited a number of fragrance stores to buy a bottle of body perfume, and I was struck by the number of women who had come to shop for perfume as compared to the number of men who were there for the same purpose.

I came to the conclusion that probably the majority of men ordered their perfume online. In any case, both men and women in those stores that day had the same motive—we were all in search of sweet and long-lasting perfumes.

I watched with delight how many shoppers tried samples of perfume and waited to determine which was the sweetest before making our final selection.

As I waited before deciding which was my favorite of all the perfumes I had tried, Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 2:15 popped into my mind: “We are the sweet fragrance of Christ which ascends to God and is discernable by others” (my paraphrase).

Then several questions began to race through my mind.

Am I a sweet fragrance of Christ? As Psalm 141:2 puts it, does my prayer ascend to the throne of God like fragrant incense every morning? And if I am a sweet fragrance to Christ, am I a long-lasting one that perseveres in prayer and good deeds, or do I fade away when faced with difficulties? Can others smell the sweet fragrance of Christ’s presence, His everlasting love, joy, peace, and patience, through me? Oh, how pleasant this world would be if, in addition to perfumes, I wore Christ’s sweet fragrance too! It would bring hope to those in despair, joy to the lonely, love to the marginalized, and salvation to the hardest heart.

What incredible evangelists we would be! Imagine how joyful heaven would be if you, I, and all the daughters of God remembered to wear the sweet, everlasting fragrance of Christ’s presence as we step out into the world today! Oh, may it be so!

Tabitha Kra