THERE IS ANOTHER side to this verse: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Cor. 2:14). The illustration I gave yesterday seems passive, and the victory seems to be within the person concerned. The victory is within, but not only within: “God . . . in Christ . . . through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” The victory is within, but it spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. It is positive and expansive and compelling to others. It is power, and it is converting power.
It is a fragrance; it smells good. You are converted by it and love to be converted by it, for the conversion is done so lovingly. He breaks down your opposition and does it so graciously, and you love to have Him do it, for you know your opposition is an opposition to yourself as well as to Him. A friend, gloriously converted, changed the usual words into: “I came, I saw, and I was conquered—and loved it so.”
The fragrance which comes from a spirit wholly in Christ is the most beautiful thing on our planet. Paul stood before King Agrippa and the royal court and said: “I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains” (Acts 26:29). The phrase “except for these chains” is so tenderly beautiful and Christlike that the fragrance of that touch floats across the centuries and fills our souls with a sense of unutterable sweetness. The gracious power of it! Anyone with that spirit is irresistible. Someone said of a truly converted friend, “She can go anywhere, to anybody, for she works by love.” Love gets behind all defenses and is as all-pervasive as perfume—and as irresistible. We welcome love, for love is the thing for which we are made.
O Jesus, my Lord, lead me in triumph this day, for I would go forth armed with nothing save Thy love. May I meet all hate with love, all indifference with Thy interest, all ignorance with Thy compassion. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: All my deeds and attitudes will have the aroma of Thy love upon them this day.
