Excuse me, what fragrance is that you are wearing?

I pulled on my t-shirt and stopped. Smiling, I pulled the collar back up to my nose and inhaled deeply. As the smells from the freshly washed laundry burst upon my senses, I grinned from ear to ear. Yep, still smelled like camp fire.

It had been two weeks since the fated “Men’s Camping trip.” The trip, a three night four day camping extravaganza, was specially planned and scheduled to grant my oldest son his first ever camping experience. We slept in a tent, cooked over a camp fire, and even went out for a scenic boat ride. (Well, it was supposed to be a fishing trip, but the fish decided they didn’t want to attend.)

When we returned, the three of us reeked of campfire. The aroma of camp smoke clung to the air around us like a musky manly camping cologne. At least that’s what we told ourselves. Other opinions may vary.

The smell was so strong that my bag, carelessly dropped in the corner of the bedroom, quickly filled the room with the camping aroma. Walking through the bedroom door, your senses were assaulted by the smells of the outdoors.

One bag, having been close to the fire, changed the atmosphere of a home 450 miles away.
As I reflected and meditated on my newsletter this month, it dawned on me how we carry a spiritual & emotional fragrance around us. At times the scent of frustration can be sensed as we walk into a busy office place. We’ll often mention the chill we feel in the air between two people who are bitter toward each other. Others bear a whirlwind of confusion that swirls around them as half thoughts and incomplete ideas swirl by in the air.

Some people have the gentle depth of a peaceful river that slowly washes away the thoughts of the day. While others bear the unmistakable crackling excitement of great power prepared to be unleashed. Yet others walk in such lighthearted joy, that every burden seems to lift by the light fluffy clouds of laughter that so easily float about them.

What fragrance are you wearing?

When you walk through the door, do people immediately detect the fragrance of God or do they quickly turn away as the odor of frustration, anger or fear attacks their senses? Have we spent time wrapped in the midst of God so we bear the fragrance of His presence?

God has called us to bear the fragrant fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22). These fragrances, birthed in heaven, emanate from God Himself. The perfume of which all are seeking, but few have found. Instead, some choose to wander around with cheap knockoff fragrances like infatuation instead of love, and appeasement instead of peace.

The fragrance of God is not difficult to gain, nor difficult to maintain. Give your wife a hug and see if you don’t carry with you a faint aroma of her perfume. Those things you hold, those things you bring close to you, the things you spend time with. Those are the things you will carry the fragrance of.

Is it God?