Mark Sorensen Technology doesn’t seem to like me these days. It seems that no matter what device I am using, it freezes and requires a “reset” on my part to get it going again. Am I the only one? Frustrating. Yet, after a good restart, the device is as good as new.
That said, can I make a confession? The Lord has had to do the same with me lately.
With 2016 has come a reset and fresh approach to my reading of God’s Word. I found that as I was getting into Scripture, I was approaching it as an assignment.
“Ok, Lord. Sunday’s coming. I’m needing You to exegete this passage for me (cause God just LOVES it when I use the word ‘exegete’) so I can convey a greater truth to those You are placing within the sound of my voice.”
Now, hear me — God loves an approach to His Word where we’re being wise in our breakdown of Scripture and preaching it in the context in which it is written.
HOWEVER…
With a new year came a new conviction. I am not delighting in the Word. Meaning I am not just moving through God’s Scripture to enjoy what I find. SO, I am setting time aside to savor, read and enjoy. I am so grateful for this awareness and conviction from the Holy Spirit. And the fruit that has developed because of this reset in my life? So sweet.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “…thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…”
Ever stop to consider your smell and what kind of aroma you’re omitting? LOVE these words from Paul: “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” The Holy Spirit hasn’t released this passage from my memory of late. There’s something beautiful when you think about how the more we savor in the goodness of God and what He has done for us all through Jesus Christ, and the more we lean in to the whispers of Jesus and the nudges of the Holy Spirit in our lives, there’s an aroma that comes from that that others can smell.
So to you, my friend, may you savor the sweet words of Jesus and delight in His love. And in doing so, may the aroma of this beautiful love drift and catch the nostrils of all you come into contact with.
