The story is told of a traveler to a small French town who was eating at an outside cafe late in the afternoon. As he enjoyed his food, he began to smell something powerful yet beautiful. The air was completely filled with this sweet aroma. He asked the waiter about it and was told the smell happens every day at that time. It is the aroma from a nearby perfume factory carried on the clothes of workers as they leave work and walk past the cafe. These workers carried with them this beautiful aroma. I'm sure, however, that not everyone would agree that the smell was so desirable. I have allergies, for example, and I have to hold my breath when I walk through the perfume section of a department store. It's not a sweet smell to me! Chapter 2 describes the gospel in the same way. As believers, we are to be carriers of the gospel. To those who accept it, it is a sweet smell that brings life. To those who reject it, it is the pungent smell of death (vv14-17). Sometimes, however, there are believers who backslide who need to be reminded of the gospel's aroma. Such was the case with one individual in Corinth who Paul to task in his previous letter (1 Corinthians 5). The church apparently had disciplined him, as they should have, but now Paul says it was time to reach out to him. He had been punished; now it was time to once again let him breath the sweet aroma of God's forgiveness (vv1-11). Maybe today you need to inhale the gospel's sweet aroma--either for salvation or because you have drifted away from what you once held dear. Then you can be a gospel fragrance carrier wherever you go.
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Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at www.maxpoint.org/message_board.
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