As I reached up to the cabinet to obtain an empty jar in which to pour my newly boiled bone broth, I opened it and took a whiff. “Yep, still smells like salsa.” I tried again with the sauerkraut jar, same thing.
However, when I smelled another jar with no lid, nothing. No smell whatsoever. Wow, what happened?
Science teaches us that when molecules move from a high concentration area to an area with low concentration of those molecules that process is diffusion. In open space, molecules move randomly at very high speed. They collide with each other, move in other directions and after sometime they reach the state of equilibrium. At this stage the diffusion stops. The molecules get distributed equally everywhere in the space (room). But even at this stage they do not stop colliding with each other. They are moving and colliding even at equilibrium. They are just spread uniformly now. (quora.com)
In the salsa and sauerkraut jars, the concentration of the salsa and sauerkraut molecules was high since the molecules were not allowed to escape, consequently causing the jars to still be fragrant. Not so with the lidless jar. Whatever molecules that were once there had escaped and become diffused with the air around it. Therefore, the jar had no smell.
I often think about the things that dilute or diffuse our fragrance of the Lord. Truly, residing in the presence of the Holy Spirit will make us more like Him. And, its important to keep the aroma strong by not diffusing it with ways, words and influences that are not of Him. They weaken you and make it hard for you to “…spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere,” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Surely we don’t want to be without the fragrance of Jesus.
In Mark Batterson’s book, “The Circle Maker,” he says, “Our minds are subconsciously primed by everything that is happening all the time.” That’s why I believe we should watch out for those “spirit diffusers.”
Spending time in the presence of God–praying, singing, reading the scriptures–leaves behind the “presence of God” fragrance. Similar to the capped salsa jar, when prayer, worship, and heartfelt repentance is consistently practiced, I believe that the fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control remain in high concentration. When they are not, diffusion easily takes place.
The salsa jar I used to store my chicken bone broth still smelled like salsa long after the contents were removed. The scriptures tell us that when the rulers and elders of Jerusalem “…saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13).
Do you believe they could sense the aroma of the Lord? Many say presence, but whatever it is, it is almost tangible. The miracle the disciples performed indicated with whom they had been. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful testimony to carry? If those who don’t know Jesus could tell that we had been with and belonged to Jesus simply by our fragrance? I think one’s eternal life is well worth it.
One of my Facebook friends wrote, “You ever get that feeling where you just want to be in God’s presence, just to sit there and not say a word, just sit there?” That, my friend, is one of the keys to getting and keeping that salsa jar, Jesus kind of smell.
Inspiration From the Father 