Have you ever noticed how a smell recalls a memory? I can walk into a house and smell fresh baked cookies, BAM, I think of my mom. You open the old gym bag you forgot about… BAM, the sweaty gear & socks you forgot about reminds you of your high school locker room 50 years ago.

But did you know your thinking has a smell? Not in the traditional way, but in a way that draws us in a direction… a path to action. Years ago, I attended a conference and heard the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar use the phrase, “stinkin’ thinkin’”. He was referring to the negative self-talk that controls how we respond to life. It is when we visualize defeat in our mind before we start. This is significant.

Watch a highly trained gymnast before they perform their routine. They have spent countless hours preparing their body & mind for the event. Everything is ready but notice the critical choice. The last thing they do is secure their mind. They stand at the mat and visualize themselves completing routine successfully.

I don’t know about you, but that has not been my nature.

Years ago, we were having Thanksgiving at our daughter’s house. At the last minute we needed ice and I volunteered to run up the street to get a bag. As I was standing in line to pay, I noticed a frail, middle-aged woman with a few things in front of me. I thought to myself, “that’s probably her Thanksgiving.” After she paid, I watched her go out into the dreary, cold & misty morning. After I paid, I hurriedly left the parking lot and noticed her walking down the sidewalk in her thin black dress with no coat or umbrella. I am ashamed I didn’t turn around and do what I knew I should do. I drove on…  but I have never forgotten. That’s “stinkin’ thinkin’”!

Thinking of Jesus first is at the core of being His Follower. It’s thinking like Him… what He would do… how He sees people and situations. One of the unique traits in the Biblical stories of Jesus was how He dealt with interruptions. They were opportunities not distractions. He had the gentle boldness to be used to transform hopeless into Hope.

The Holy Spirit has never let me forget the “Thanksgiving Lady.” So, if you are with me on an elevator in a hospital, in the checkout line at Wal-Mart or wherever and I offer to pray with a stranger or invite a man I have never met to join our Bible Study Fellowship Band of Brothers this is why.

We learn from Romans 12:2b, “but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” BAM! When we couple Romans 12:2 with Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”  Earl Nightingale said it this way, “We become what we think about.” What we do or do not do is directly tied to how we think. We give excuses but it all comes down to thinking about ourselves more than Him. I was more concerned about Thanksgiving dinner than the lady God pointed out to befriend… to show the love of Jesus.

So how do we overcome reluctance to share Jesus? First, understand it is not about you, but Him. Second, we are called to be His messengers. Third, the results are between the person and God not you. As Coach Nick Saban famously said, “Just do your job.”

It starts with accepting and believing these two scriptures.

• “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13  
• “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14

Chances are you have a “Thanksgiving Lady” in your past. What are you going to do with her? Isn’t it time you took the “stink” out of your memory? Isn’t it time you accepted the challenge of Paul found in, 2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God”? We represent Jesus.

Now ponder this. “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”  2 Corinthians 2:15.

Never in my lifetime has there been a greater opportunity to make a difference for The Kingdom. The divided & anxious world is searching for peace, significance, and purpose. Only Jesus has that power. Will you represent Him? Think about it… being a sweet aroma to the King of Kings.