The Smell of Desmond… The Scent of Jesus

Over the last weekend Mary and I hosted our six-month-old grandson, Desmond. Our daughter, Alli, and her husband, Chris, were on a weekend getaway and so we enthusiastically agreed to care for their beautiful little boy.

After one of Desmond’s naps, I raced to his crib to retrieve him. As I hoisted him to my shoulder, he nuzzled up close to my face. The moment was precious to me. As time separated me from the encounter, I was left with the lingering impact of Desmond’s smell. A clean wonderful baby smell. (I fully understand that babies don’t always smell great, but when all is right with the world, there is something amazing about how they smell!)

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15-16

The apostle Paul makes it very clear that as followers of Jesus, we have an aroma. A scent. To our Heavenly Father we smell like Jesus; we remind God of His only begotten.

Can you describe that scent? The apostle Paul helps us again:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” ~ Philippians 2:5-8

Paul says… “have this mind”; in other words, have the scent of Jesus; and that scent, most predominantly is the scent of humility.

Have you ever smelled humility? It’s powerfully attractive. It’s compelling in its appeal. It’s subtle, but distinct. It invites when others dismiss. It extends grace when others judge. It serves when others demand. It loves when others ignore. It touches when others recoil. It is courageous when others are selfish. It listens. It hopes. It intercedes. It advocates. A voice for the silent. A hand for the helpless. A father to the fatherless. An embrace for the outcast. An ambassador for the truth. Oh… the scent of Jesus.

On the other hand, arrogance is the anti-Jesus fragrance. It elevates self and invades an encounter with “more of me” and less of you. It demands to be noticed; to be overpowering… to be the point.

So just as the fragrance of Desmond lingers in my mind… much more so the scent of Jesus; the smell of humility; the elevation of His Father… the submissive Son. The servant. The Savior. Do you smell like Him?

Humility… a fragrance from Jesus.