A couple of cockroaches are munching on the contents of a garbage can in a deserted alley. “Have you popped into that new coffee shop across the street yet?” asks one. “The floors are so shiny you can see your antennae in them. The walls are so clean you can’t run up them. The air is so fresh it smells like flowers.” “Stop!” cries the second cockroach. “Please, not while I’m eating.” That’s a silly little joke but it reminds us that not everyone sees the same thing the same way. In that story, the shiny floors and the clean walls and the sweet smell of flowers are not the place of choice for cockroaches. We usually find them in places where there is dampness and decay. They are not being bad…they are just being cockroaches. For most of us, our choice would be to sit in that new coffee shop. Now people are not cockroaches…but that story is a reminder to us that people also see things differently because of who they are. The Apostle Paul wrote a church in the ancient city of Corinth and told them that their lives lived for Christ are like a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But not everyone perceives that fragrance the same way. He said that those who don’t know God, followers of Jesus are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But for those who are coming to Christ, those same lives are like a life-giving perfume. So don’t be discouraged when people look at your following Jesus with disbelief and even contempt. Your job is to live well and love with God’s love continually. Because God can use you to spread the knowledge of this Jesus of the Bible, like a sweet perfume. And your life and love and God’s good work will, for some, be the sweet fragrance that will capture their hearts and minds and souls. Live faithfully to God and his word and live with his love and kindness. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 NLT 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. (16) To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 NLT 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. (16) To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ