I have been thinking a lot about smells this week. The smokestack in this picture was a common fixture in my young life. All my life as a child, my family drove up and down Route 23. Going through Chillicothe was always memorable because of the Mead Paper Plant. Before the days of the bypass, you would drive right through the plant grounds or at least the road would have paper mill buildings on either side.

The reason I remember this smokestack is because of the bad smell that making paper would put in the air. If you didn't know better you might be tempted to think that someone in the car was experiencing gastronomical problems. More often than not it was just the smell of Chillicothe.

All of us emit an aroma that will either smell right to those around us or it will just plain stink. The apostle Paul says that we are the aroma of God in this world. That means that our attitude, actions and speech could really determine the depth of our relationship with God. The more we know Christ the more we will act like and emulate Him. The more we know Christ the more those around us will be touched or affected by the aroma of His grace. Churches and Christians that never intentionally encounter the community around them have never discovered what it means to really follow Christ. Following Christ doesn't just mean going to church. (It may be that God doesn't go three times a week) It means that you follow Him out of the walls and into the world and more importantly into the lives of those He came to seek and to save.

You have just had a glimpse of this Sunday's message. But I think it might be a bigger message than just this Sunday. It might be the message that Christ left the church through His word.

So today I will be in Chillicothe to take my Dad to the Doctor. I will be there to make sure he doesn't down play his illness and so that my mother can be watched while he is at this appointment. I have not had very much patience with this situation because of my Dad's attitude. Today I will look at the smokestack, take a whiff of the air and try to remember that I should react like Jesus and not like a "chip off the old block."