I've noticed that while my car moves slowly through the sprays and brushes of the local car wash, I have plenty of time to talk to the man at the cash register and look at all the car gadgets on the walls. I think they move the car slowly so I'll have plenty of time to buy little things I don't really need.
One entire wall at the car wash is covered with a whole display of air fresheners. Now, the only air freshener scents I know are pine and extra pine, but here there are probably 60 fragrances to choose from! One of them is really amusing. It's called "New Car" air freshener. Yes, you can purchase the scent of a new car. If you have a tired old vehicle with tired old smells to match, you can get this freshener and maybe fool everybody. At least your car will smell new.
One of the most sobering passages in the Bible is found in Matthew 7. Jesus begins in verse 21 by saying, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
These people must have had the fragrance of a Christian, but Jesus says He doesn't know them. He is saying here that it is possible to look very Christian on the outside, even to be in significant Christian leadership, but to somehow miss Jesus - and miss heaven. It is easy to fall into a faith that is in our heads but never gets to our hearts. We can have Christian vocabulary, a Christian image, a Christian schedule, Christian habits, and all the aromas of someone who really knows Christ, but somehow miss the one transaction that really makes us God's.
Jesus says we have to do the will of His Father who is in heaven, and He defined that in John 6:40. "My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life." That means you have to pin all your hopes on Jesus Christ. When you look to Him and believe in Him, in a Biblical sense you have grabbed Him and said, "Lord, I'm depending totally on You."
There are Christian teachers, pastors, and many people who smell new, but it is still the same old person inside. Jesus has never been invited in. Could it be that you are serving Jesus but have never surrendered to Him? I know it is hard to face, but it's harder not to face it. Those are awful words - "I never knew you." None of the spiritual decorations or activities impress Him. He knows whether or not there was ever a moment when you really surrendered yourself to Him. If you're not sure that you've done that, why not do it now? Let Jesus make you really new, inside and out.