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• I must confess I am not up-to-date with all of the body lotions and perfumes that are available today. I shave in the morning, splash some aftershave on my face, rub some deodorant under my armpits and that is as far as I go.
• This young woman took me for a potential customer of her body lotions and ointments and perfumes. I suppose many people are concerned with how they smell. I am not one of them.
• My basic philosophy along this line is simply, if I cannot stand my own smell, I take a shower. I know when it is time to take a shower when I can smell myself.
• She wanted to introduce me to some body lotions and ointments and perfumes that would make me smell alluring to anybody I met during the day.
• Personally, I do not have a "Bucket List" but if I did this would not be one of the items on it.
• Trying to be polite, I informed the young woman I was late for an appointment and needed to get on right away.
• "Oh," she said very cheerfully, "this will not take long at all."
• With that said, and before I could process what she said, she began rubbing my face with body ointment or lotion of some sort. I froze and for a few moments, I could not even move. Even the little grey cells upstairs were shocked into a rare state of stillness.
• "Now, you smell wonderful."
• It was at that time I retired with honor my gentlemanly manners and started running as fast as I could run without drawing too much attention to myself.
• I smelled that "fragrance" for three days in spite of the fact that I took 17 showers in the meantime.
• Sometimes our focus is always on the outside. I like what Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess" (Matthew 23:25).
• It does not matter how good I smell on the outside if there is stench on the inside. I want to focus on my inside and make it as fresh as possible. That is the fragrance God smells.
• Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His web site is www.jamessnyderministries.com.