He leaves a sweet fragrance
2 Corinthians 2:14 (AMPC) But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere.
Did you know you were a trophy? We are proof of Jesus’ victory over the devil, sin, sickness, poverty, and death! The Lord is parading you around the Earth as proof of the victory won. You are His trophy! And in that, we are called to be ministers of reconciliation, to spread the knowledge of God everywhere we go.
I do want to concentrate on the word “fragrance” in the last part of this verse. It seems to me, this verse is saying that as a result of our walking with the Lord, spending time in His presence, that we will have a fragrance about us. The next two verses bring this out. Verses 15 and 16 (AMPC) say, “For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?].”
You and I are to carry the very fragrance of God from our time in His presence. The more of Him we carry, the more we smell like Him, and the greater our effect will be. First, for believers, when we get together, that fragrance will increase and the life of God in our midst will also increase. Then, to unbelievers, the fragrance that we carry will remind them of the death they are living in. This presence we carry, the very presence of God, will convict them of their sin (the very smell of death). The great thing about the fragrance of God is you can never overdo it. Unfortunately for most believers, they only get a faint smell of Christ in their lives.
Let’s determine to walk with Him, spend more time with Him, and just wait in His presence. Let’s smell like Jesus, which is the best fragrance of all.