Who doesn’t love the game of I Spy? I play it quite often with my grandkids.
This past weekend, as I was driving them home, Brailee yelled from the back seat, ‘let’s play I Spy, Nana!’
I said ‘okay, you go first’ and the game began. Brailee took her turn and Bryson and I guessed what she was spying. Then it was Bryson’s turn, he is much better at this game than Brailee and I, so we always have to say, ‘I give.’ Finally, it was my turn.
By this time, we were pulling into their driveway. As I looked around at the horses greetings us and the donkeys yelling…I had a thought! Brailee gets riled up when I tease her about any of her animals…so I thought I would tease her a bit.
I said, ‘I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE…something stinky!’ To which Braille cried out, ‘NANA!’ Bryson said, ‘the little pigs!’ I said ‘yep!’
Brailee of course, reprimanded me, but Bryson, he decided to give me a lesson on pigs.
‘Actually, Nana’, he began, ‘pigs have absolutely no odor at all.’ I said ‘really!??’ He went on to explain, ‘Yes! they have no odor, if you kept a pig in the house and kept your house clean, you would never smell the pig, the odor comes from the environment they live in.’
I stopped the vehicle, turned around and looked at him and said ‘Bryson, that was an awesome lesson!’
Oh my! What a good word. To me these are the smelliest animals around, yet they have no odor, all the stink is found in their environment.
Environment is defined as; the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates.
2 Corinthians 2:15 says; For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Today, my question to you is this; are you a sweet-smelling fragrance or a stench in His nostrils.
What environment are you living in? Do you fill your home, your life, with the word of God? With the peace of God? With worship & praise?
Or do you surround yourself with movies you would not watch in front of your children? Do you surround yourself with bitterness, anger and pride? Is someone in your house continually fussing and arguing? Is someone in your home always critical of others or condemning others? What environment are you living in?
Environments are important in our lives, they do affect us, even if we think they don’t. What you surround yourself with and who you surround yourself with, will have a great effect on your life. And it will affect what you can accomplish in your spiritual life.
Over the past eight days, Kelita and I have pressed into God and into His grace in a deep way. Because of this, we have surrounded ourselves with His word, prayers of agreement, anointed teachings and praise and worship. Our environment has become charged with the presence of God. It is a wonderful atmosphere, one in which God can work.
God isn’t pleased with just any environment, He doesn’t dwell in just any atmosphere. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says in the Amplified Bible; For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His.
If our heart is completely His, our environment will show it. We will surround ourselves with things that are pleasing to God.
Today, are you a sweet-smelling aroma or a stench in the nostrils of God? What and who surrounds you today? Let’s press into God this week and live a life fully pleasing to Him.
Prayer for Today: Father, I ask you to create in us a clean and pure heart, to renew a steadfast spirit within us and cause us to be a sweet-smelling fragrance to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
