But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, & manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God “

2 Corinthians 2: 15

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its fragrance be wafted abroad.

Song of Songs 4:16

Spring from thy root, sweet flower!

When so God wills, spring even from thy root.

Send through the earth’s warm breast a quickened shoot

And lift into the sunny air thy dower

Of bloom and odor; life is on the plains,

And in the winds a sound of birds and rains

That sing together; lo! the winter cold

Is past; sweet scents revive, thick buds unfold;

Be thou, too, willing in the day of Power.

Spring from thy root, sweet flower.

DORA GREENWELL

What an ideal this is for us all~so to live that though we are unable to speak much or occupy a commanding position, yet from our lives a holy fragrance may be spread abroad that will be not ours but Christ’s! Let us live so near Him that we may absorb His fragrance and then go forth to exhale it again in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, and in the power of God. Just as a piece of clay or sponge may become so impregnated with some aromatic spice that it will scent the drawer, cupboard, or box in which it lies, so we may become impregnated with the sweetness of Jesus and spread it by an irresistible influence in every place where we are called to live or work.

…How marvelously scent awakens memory! In a moment it will waft us back through long years to some old country lane, garden, or orange grove, summoning to mind people and events associated with it in the happy past.

When, therefore, we are told that we may be to God a sweet fragrance of Christ, it must be meant that we may so live as to recall to the mind of God what Jesus was in His mortal career. It is as though, as God watches us from day to day, He should see Jesus in us and be reminded (speaking after the manner of men) of that blessed life that was offered as an offering and a sacrifice to God for sweet-smelling savor.

F.B. MEYER

The Life of Paul