Stench

What do you smell like? I am not talking about BO here, but about the fragrance that your heart gives off. My dog got into a skunk a few days ago and despite our best efforts he still has a faint lingering odor that clings to him. Sure his hair is all shiny and soft from the shampoo that we liberally applied to him, and from a distance he looks really good, but get a bit closer and you will be put off by his stench. This all got me to thinking about what my odor is. Do I reek? Maybe of anger or bitterness, hatred, pride, selfishness, faithlessness or just plain ole complacency? Yep, some days I sure do, and despite my best efforts to wash the stench off myself, there is always a lingering odor, because you see, what is in my heart will come out. The thing that is truly alarming is most of the time I can’t even smell myself. The stink fills my nostrils until they are completely desensitized. I don’t know about you, but I need a complete overhaul. I was reading in Ephesians this morning about the love of Christ. How He dwells in my heart through faith, and that when I am rooted and established in that love I will have the understanding of how massive it is. I love how Paul said it...   “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

So the love of Christ, it is the key to being filled with all the fullness of God. I want to know this love, I need to know this love. Only then will I have a heart that has what the Bible calls “the fragrance of Christ.” 

This is my prayer for today and always. Give me understanding God. To know something that surpasses knowledge. It is too big for me. It is the mystery of Christ. Christ in me. Glory!