“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (II Corinthians 2:14).
I King Chapter 10 recorded when the Queen of Sheba heard about the wisdom of King Solomon, she posed many questions to test him. But the Bible did not give us even a glimpse about the kind of questions she asked. Legend tells us that the Queen of Sheba brought with her two bunches of roses that looked very much alike, but one was fake and the other was real. Then she asked King Solomon to point out which bunch of flowers was real without touching them. King Solomon asked for his assistant to bring a few bees and set them free between the flowers. Instantly, the bees flew toward the real flowers!
We may not be able to distinguish between the flowers but the bees will never be mistaken while one side gives out sweet fragrance and the other side is tasteless. When we look on the outward appearances of Christians, people may seem to be similar because they go to church, study the Bible, pray, give offerings, etc… But, when we live with them, the non-Christians will know who has the power of the living Savior.
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Today, too many people say “Lord, Losrd.” but do not “do the will of God.” – possessing too much of the formalism flower but having very few flowers that give out sweet fragrance. Being labeled as Christians does not automatically turn us into real Christians. Only having the true living love of the Savior in our hearts will produce the power to attract others to come to Christ. When a rose does not give out fragrance, it is only a fake flower. A Christian who is unable to help another person to taste the sweetness of the saving grace of our Savior will not bring any benefit to human kind. He is only a Christian in name.
Pastor Thoai Duong
