Making Scents

"Oh no!" exclaimed Mom when she heard a wail from upstairs."I bet Katelyn broke something again," said Timothy. "Kate!" Mom called. "What's the problem?" There was no reply, so Mom headed up the stairs with Timothy following close behind. As they reached the top step, Katelyn appeared at Mom's bedroom door.Timothy wrinkled his nose. "What's that smell?" he asked.Katelyn's eyes filled with tears. "I was dusting your room like you asked me to, Mom. When I was moving things on the dresser, I accidentally knocked over your perfume--that bottle Aunt Carol gave you. It didn't break, but I guess it wasn't shut tight, and some spilled out. I'm sorry, Mom! I didn't mean to do it.""Don't worry," said Mom gently. "It was an accident.""Ugh!" said Timothy, holding his nose. "Why does it smell so bad? "It doesn't smell bad!" said Katelyn. "It smells good--it's just a bit stronger than it's supposed to be because I spilled it." Timothy made a gagging sound and pretended to fall to the floor. Katelyn grinned at her brother. "In my class at church last week, my teacher said Christians should always give off a nice scent--and that includes you, Timothy!"Timothy looked horrified. "There's no way I'm letting myself smell like that!"Mom laughed. "I don't think Katelyn's teacher was talking about perfume, Timothy. She was talking about the fragrance of Christ. Right, Katelyn?"Timothy looked puzzled, but Katelyn nodded. "She said Christians fill the world with the good news of Jesus. She said that's like a sweet-smelling fragrance.""So, how do we do that--without smelling like this," Timothy asked, pointing toward the spilled perfume."When we're helpful, kind to others, forgiving, patient--in other words, when we rely on Jesus to help us treat others with the same kind of love He has shown us--we become channels of His love to those around us," Mom explained. "The Bible refers to that as the fragrance of Christ--and that's a scent both guys and girls should spread around. Does that make sense?"Timothy grinned at his mom. "Yeah, that does make sense--but no one should be making scents like this perfume!" he said as he covered his nose and mouth. "I'd much rather give off the fragrance of Christ." –Tanya Ferdinandusz