Mmmm...Death Smells So Good...

Ever noticed how a gardenia flower smells so sweet that you can't help but inhale deeply as you walk by?  And it's completely unmistakeable. You KNOW when you walk by that it's definitely a gardenia blossom that you are smelling.

But did you know that that unmistakable aroma gets even more potent as the flower begins to wilt?

I thought about all this as I walked past a bouquet of gardenias that I had brought in yesterday after I had unceremoniously snapped them from the unsuspecting bush outside my front door.

I LOVE a gardenia.


And yesterday, to really smell them, I had to be no more than a foot away from them.

Today...they are wilting a bit and I walked past them about 4 feet away from the vase and caught a whiff of their pungent sweetness on the way past.

Got me to thinking.

Thinking about life and death.

Thinking about Spirit and Flesh.

People are, ultimately, drawn to the Truth from the fragrance we emit as believers. When our flesh is alive and well, they have to get really close to smell the sweetness of His presence in our lives...

Oh, but!

When we die to our flesh, (Gal 5:24- "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.") they don't have to come close...

Which in this day and age, with how publicly idiotic Christians can be, ppl stay as far away as possible...

No...they don't have to get anywhere NEAR us. They can smell the pungent perfume of Christ's presence from a LONG way away...

And it's sweet.

It's enticing.

It draws them in to bury their face in the anointing and inhale His sweet presence...

Oh how sweet the smell of dying Flesh.

Ha ha....now THAT'S not something you hear everyday. :)