Soaked and reeking

The story is told of a group of men who, during the Black Plague of the 1700's, would enter the homes of the dead and dying and remove all the valuables. These men became quite rich and none of them died from the plague. Since the devastating effects of the plague were decimating the population of Europe, when the police gained the courage to arrest these men, they were astonished to find them all healthy.

To discover why these men had survived while being surrounded by plague infested bodies, the police struck a bargain. If the men would tell how they had survived, the police would let them go and allow them to keep what they had stolen so long as they stopped thieving from then on.

The men told the police that they had one thing that kept them from dying.


Garlic. Heaps and heaps of garlic. Not only would these men consume large amounts of garlic, but they would boil garlic and make a huge pot of garlic stew and then would soak their clothing in this pot for about two weeks. Not once were any of the men harmed by the plague.

This got me to thinking. These men were completely saturated with garlic. They ate it. They were covered in it. They would have been powerfully stinky.

Today we are surrounded by a plague. People all around us are dropping dead and dying. We are living on a planet filled with sin - a truly deadly disease. And we have one thing that saves us. When we are covered in Jesus, inside and out, we are able to walk in this world without being harmed. Jesus alone saves us in the midst of darkness, turmoil and death. Each of us has the chance to be coated in Jesus.

When someone coated in garlic walks by, you are going to notice. Your nose would not let you miss them! Same is true when someone soaked in Jesus enters your life! You cannot help but notice that something is different! They are there is front of you and they live with a joy the darkness of the world cannot take away. They reek of Jesus!

On this earth we don't escape death but we don't have to die forever! Jesus gives us all the chance to be saturated with Him, to be washed clean of sin and to be saved from its effects for eternity.

Get soaked in Jesus today! Allow Him to live in you and to surround you, to lead you in all that you do. Be soaked and reeking.