Thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When I worked retail, some guy in my vicinity was wearing the most attractive fragrance I’d never smelled before.

I sniffed him out to ask the brand name, entranced by the aroma and as it turns out, I wasn’t alone.

He’d already exited into the mall when I stopped him to ask.

He named the fragrance for me and laughed that I’d been the third person who’d asked that day.

For the life of me I don’t recall the brand some 40 years later but it was unique enough to follow and embolden my inquiry of a complete stranger.

I’d have bought the scent from his coat pocket right there at any price if he’d had a bottle on him.

Today, the memory of that encounter with a stranger still serves as a metaphor of how I hope my life as a follower of Christ might attract those who are seeking the life that I have found.