Those who know me well know I like a certain perfume. I've enjoyed it for many years and have received many compliments on it. I guess it mixes well with my body chemistry and creates a pleasant aroma. When I walk into a room, inevitably someone will come up to me and ask what scent I'm wearing. I used to hesitate to tell them fearing my secret scent would be stolen, but now I share openly when I'm asked. It's a nice feeling to know others want to know the name of my perfume because they like it.
Some people are very sensitive to scents, that's one reason I like mine. It's a light scent that doesn't overwhelm or arrive before I do when I enter a room.
I remember, as a child, sitting in church with my mother. In front of us was an older woman who apparently couldn't smell very well because she doused herself in perfume. It was an overpowering smell and would cause me to feel nauseous. I told myself I'd never do that so when I started wearing perfume, around the age of 15, I did my best to find light, floral scents.
It took a while to find one that mixed well with my body chemistry. At first, the scents I chose seemed to sit on top of my skin and linger there. Other times, they'd mix with the warmth of my skin and the scent would grow increasingly stronger throughout the day. I didn't find that attractive at all.
I loved visiting the department stores where perfume reps would offer tiny free sample bottles of perfumes. I'd take them home and try them, often throwing them in the trash after one application. Years later, instead of giving free samples of perfume, the reps would spray the perfume onto a white piece of cardstock with the name of the perfume and the manufacturing company's logo on it. You could still smell the fragrance, but it was slightly diffused and would evaporate quickly.
As I got older, I'd go into Macy's or Belk's and sidle up to the perfume counter perusing the various shapes and sizes of bottles displayed perfectly on ornate mirrors along the countertops. Sometimes, the shape of the bottle would entice me but more often than not, the scent won me over - that is, if the price wasn't prohibitive. Some perfumes were extremely expensive!
I never liked the knock off brands. They tried their best to copy an original scent's formula but never quite got it right. Though they were less expensive, those knock offs didn't last long and would often smell really bad after a month or so.
When I finally found my "signature scent" I wore it all the time. Whenever I was out shopping, I'd buy an extra bottle just in case my stock was getting low. I didn't want to run out!
One day, I went to buy my perfume and found it had been discontinued. I was mortified. Immediately, I got on Amazon and started looking for small businesses that had purchased large lots of the discontinued scent. I found several places that still carried it and ordered immediately. As months passed, I found it more and more difficult to find my favorite perfume and with much chagrin, decided to find a new favorite.
It took a great deal of time and energy before I finally found another I liked as well as the first. Thankfully, my new favorite hasn't been on the market long so it's still very popular. I get the same type reaction whenever I wear it. People want to know the name of the scent and I gladly tell them.
But did you know, even if you're not wearing any perfume, you still carry a fragrance around with you? And I'm not talking about how you smell after you've been outside working in your garden or mowing the lawn! I'm not even talking about how you smell if you've just cooked a big meal of fried chicken or some other smelly food. I'm not talking about how you smell after a good long shower or a hot bubble bath, either! If you're a Christ follower, you carry around a very unique fragrance. You carry the aroma of Christ.
What does the aroma of Christ smell like? Well, it's hard to describe. It's not an actual scent, per se. It's more of an atmosphere or inner beauty exuding from your pores. When Christ dwells in you, you carry Him around with you wherever you go.
Have you ever had a complete stranger come up to you and start talking to you like you're an old friend or have you repulsed someone without saying a word? If so, you've had a reaction to your scent. Those who are either saved or in the process of learning about Christ, or being drawn closer to Him, will find your scent attractive. You'll be like a magnet to them. They'll want to be around you because they sense something different in you. But those who are unsaved, or those far from Christ (They may have even chosen to reject Him completely) will want to get as far away from you as possible. Christ in you will repel them.
Carrying around the aroma of Christ is a great responsibility and one we shouldn't take lightly. If you have the honor and privilege of wearing that fragrance daily, it's your duty to share His Name, the name of your special aroma, with others.
We live in a sour and stinky world! It definitely needs a good dose of "smell good" (that's what one of my children called my perfume when they were small.) Never forget that you carry around a sweet perfume, a scent like no other - the aroma of Christ and you take it with you everywhere you go!
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