God's word in today's world

The flavour of a feel good movie


Click here to go to the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Friends from the Southern Cape stayed over with us after attending a friend’s funeral. He was an academic who had approached everything in life in a calculated and clinical manner. In his life, there was no space for faith in God, because his empirical brain could simply not get his mind around it. After he discovered that he was ill, this man started living like a hermit and withdrew from society. Eventually he became so ill that he had to be hospitalised.

Our friends told us about a congregation who took pity on him and assigned a pastor to visit him in hospital every day. They asked his permission to talk to him about God. In the beginning, however, he refused point blank, but the more the pastor shared the gospel with him the closer he listened. Some days he slept through the whole visit and some days when he could only nod his head in agreement. And so, on his deathbed, he met his Saviour.

Soon afterwards he went to our Father.

One community of believers with one pastor who could not but take their calling seriously to tell others about God. They did not give up hope when circumstances looked bad. They did not give up hope when it seemed too late.

The funeral was quite different, because he originally came from a very strict, traditional background. Various people said something about him. The pastor who had spent his last days with him also attended and was quite tense, because his words would be so different from the traditional. But he felt compelled to tell the story of the deceased’s last days to the attendance. What a privilege to lead an agnostic – someone who simply did not believe in the existence of God – to the Lord.

The deceased’s family changed, because suddenly Christian children’s songs were being sung in their house.

This is like a feel good movie. It has a beautiful end. It gives off an exquisite fragrance and all of us wish we could be part of such a story. Each of us should actually play in a bunch of movies like that. We must give off a pleasant fragrance in the world. The world truly needs it. It doesn’t smell good in the world out there and the worst is that people don’t even know it. They don’t know what they are going to miss out on one day and the day when they find out, it will be a bit too late.

That is the command for each of us: We must spread a good fragrance in the world so that we ourselves will have a good ending – like a feel good movie. 15Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life.

Reflection

What fragrance are you spreading?

Where in your world is Jesus’ aroma needed?

Prayer

Father, it is true. The world needs a good fragrance. I do realise I have to spread the fragrance out there in the world, but sometimes I’m too afraid to open my mouth. Please help me to, like the pastor in the story above, not keep quiet but to spread a pleasant fragrance in the world. Amen

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