*sniff* *sniff*

*sniff* *sniff*

"eeeeew"

*sniff*

what's that smell?

Oh wait.....it's me.

*cringe*

I am sure we have all had those bad days, where the temperature is too hot and our deodorant fails us. Or a baby has vomited/peed on us, or we have been working in the garden and the fertilizer exploded on us. It can happen, sad but true.

Body odor is not our friend, I remember days climbing into a taxi or onto a bus and you could smell some people a mile away, they were poorer, came from areas that didnt always have running water, they had no money for food let alone deodorant and they obviously ate lots of garlic. its not pleasant but its an indication of the state of their lives.

Smells, as odorous as they are, can be a good thing because they are often a warning sign that something is wrong. How often do we sniff food or milk to see if its off? the smell warns us.

So what odor are our lives giving off? In Christian circles we often talk about how our lives must give off the sweet perfume of Christ etc. These are common topics and phrases thrown around. Or how our worship is like sweet smelling incense rising up to God.

I often don't know what this means or how to achieve it truthfully, and maybe I will explore it more in another blog. But this week I read an interesting quote, it said...

"When your memories are greater than your dreams you are already beginning to die." 

aaah the smell of decay. So many of us are trapped in our pasts. So many of us are burdened with the hurt of our past, myself included. So many of us are dying, emotionally and spiritually because of our memories, releasing a stench of decay and an aroma of hopelessness and fear. Fear has a smell, that's what animals sense. Hopelessness does too. 

What smell is rising up in our lives? 

The good news is that we are not dead and buried, whilst there is breath in our lungs and God is on the Throne, there is still hope. We too can come back to life again. I love the verse in Job 14:8-9 that speaks of a fallen tree, but at the scent of water it comes back to life and begins to bud.

I believe spiritually and emotionally we all have the same hope if only we would draw close to the rivers of living water.