Monday morning, we opened our windows when we first awoke. Knowing that the temperature was predicted to top out the day in the upper-90’s, we were hoping to get the house cooled down early. Immediately, we were flooded with a terrible stench. When the wind blows from just the right direction, combined with the morning humidity, we are blessed with a reminder that we aren’t that far from the sugar beet processing plant.
I remember when we first moved here from California, we drove by the Sugar Beet Factory and the stench was almost more than I could stand. I didn’t think I had smelled anything that bad since we drove by the pulp mills in Northern California. Later, I read an article where someone who worked there was asked about the smell … citing the fact that people moving into the area thought it was awful. The worker remarked that it was a sweet smell to him since it represented his financial security for his family. I remember that article every time I open my windows to the “sugar beet factory blessing!”
I also remember what Paul wrote. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” [2 Cor 2:14-16 NIV]
I thought as I shut my windows Monday morning to block out the stench, that the world thinks of us the same way. We are a “stench of Christ” – the smell of death to them. No wonder they want to block us out, to remove us from their midst. But we are also the beautiful fragrance of Christ to our Father God and to all those who have placed their trust in His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Praise His Holy Name!