How Do You Smell?

I knew a man who was brought up in a time when people in the rural areas hunted, trapped, and fished to put meat on the table.  And along with that pelts were sold that brought in extra money as well.   He knew a lot about wildlife, and that from first-hand experience.  One thing he said was a fox knows it’s own den because there is no smell!  That is, he said a fox can’t smell its own scent.  I don’t know why he believed that (nor do I know if it’s true), but science has proven that animals have very unique senses, and smell is one of the strongest in many animals by which they recognize each other, their young, their dens, their enemies, etc.

Ants follow trails of scent left by other ants.  Mice and pigs have an incredible sense of smell.  And have you ever watched a squirrel dig down through the snow into the soil and come up with a hickory nut or walnut?

Those of us who have been brought up on the farm with cats around know that at times tomcats will kill kittens; perhaps because those kittens are not of their blood line.  This apparently is true throughout the feline species, even the big cats.  Is it a sense of smell?

The African elephant can smell water 12 miles away.  They probably have the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom.  And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with the length of their trunk!

In the pandemic, French scientists trained dogs to smell COVID in patients.  Now they are being used in other countries, hoping to be faster as an alternative testing method.  And they are very effective, in some tests accurately identifying 100 percent of the positive samples.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that God “uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ”

When we live out our faith, sooner or later people notice.  That’s because our spiritual fragrance is of born of the saving blood of Jesus that covers the stench of sin in our life.

A man was invited to attend church by a pastor, and the man said “I can’t stand the smell of the hypocrites in church.”

The pastor replied “The smell inside the church (those who are being saved) is a whole lot better than the stench outside the church (those who are perishing).”

But we are to be that aroma of Christ both in and outside of the church.  Perhaps the best place for a Christian to frequently be is outside the church, leaving a scent-trail, spreading the aroma of the knowledge of God, that leads back to Christ.