If you didn't know this about me, I like to cook...more specifically, I like to bake. Probably because most of the things people bake are packed full of carbs, sugars, fats, and flavor. Monday night, my daughter and I set out to make chocolate chip pumpkin bread from a new recipe that I found. We had lots of fun messing up the kitchen and finally put two loaf pans into the oven to cook. Within about twenty minutes, our entire house smelled like a little slice of heaven. The bread was supposed to bake for an hour, so we had a while to wait and the waiting was making me extremely hungry. (by the way...chocolate chip pumpkin bread does not help with losing weight...) By the time it finished baking, my little one was in bed, so she didn't get to try it until the next day, but My wife and I both dug in. It was quite tasty, and at the same time slightly disappointing. See this was the second batch of pumpkin bread I've made in the last month. The other recipe that I used the time before made a much better bread (thanks Courtney W). So while this bread was a success in terms of tasting good, I won't be making it again...
The verse at the top of the page was one Kathy and I used for our youth Bible study that we teach on Sunday nights. I love the mental picture that Paul paints in this passage to the Corinthians. He compares us to a smell that spreads everywhere and permeates the world around. Much like my pumpkin bread while it was in the oven. While teaching the youth we asked the question "How do you Smell?" I think that many times we as Christians don't really permeate our world with the fragrance of the knowledge of God. Sure we smell like Christ if you get close enough to us, if you get to know us really well. But people don't smell Christ on us from a block away while they approach. We've become content to dab on just enough Jesus to get by, go to church, pray for a meal, offer to pray for a friend while really thinking about the next item on our daily calendar. I think God (through Paul) is calling us to much more than just dabbing a bit of smell good on a couple of times a week as we leave the house. I think the picture here is more like someone who baths in their cologne and is proud of it. God is looking for Christians who will stand out from the crowd. People who not only go to church, but who truly desire to engage in worship when the are there. People who don't just pray over their meals, but who go out and feed the hungry. People who don't just offer to pray for their friends, but who cry out to God on their knees and earnest petition for those in need. God wants us to fill this world with the Fragrance of the Knowledge of Him...
I'm not there yet, but I want to be...pray for me to not only be filled with desire but to be fired with a passion for action...Good Night and God Bless
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