Remember the Charlie Brown verbiage? Happiness is...a warm blanket. I'm reminded of that right now. But I'm going to change it for a few minutes to begin with "Life is..." instead of the happiness thing.
Think for a moment and fill in the blank: Life is _________. What is it?
I've been reading in Philippians now. It's taken me almost 5 days to get through with chapter one! I'm not quite sure why it takes me so long to read these things. Guess I'm just a little stubborn sometimes and don't understand. However, I have to share with you what I'm learning. God's Word is becoming more and more important to me. I'm finding that I can't move on to the next phrase or section without understanding what's going on. This is kind of new and exciting.
Paul is one amazing author! I read what he begins with and as he continues, he explains what we wrote from the beginning. He's in prison but it doesn't get him down. Paul talks about having joy even though he's bound in a cell. Conviction about his life's purpose must have been very strong for him to find anything worthy of joy in a dark muggy cell. Then he says it; "to live is Christ." Notice the verbiage? "Is." It's not "as." It's "is." He understands the importance of God and the relationship He's come to establish. Life is...Christ.
I've often wondered what it would mean to me if suddenly everything were taken away. The worst possible tragedy happens in life and, just like Job, I lose everything. (There's a huge difference between me and Job. I have a godly wife instead of nagger. If Job had her as a wife, she would have sat in sackcloth with him and poured out her heart to the Lord.) Would Jesus be enough? After all is "stripped away" and it's just me, would He be enough for me to live on? All it takes one incident, one thing to happen for the life we have grown so accustomed to, to just disappear and change. Is Christ enough? Honestly, I pray He is!
With everything given over to Him and His purpose for me, Christ becomes life because there is nothing else. The most important, most vital thing in life is relationship with Christ. Even myself must go to the cross and die. Christ must become life. The value, the mission, the priority, and everything safe is found only in Christ. And what it all boils down to is the safety of my soul found in Him. When my shell is faced with certain and unavoidable death, what difference does it make for "me" if it quits breathing? I'm found to be with Jesus, the Life!
Live in this shell and take over every part of this life, Father! I don't want to be found any more as Nate. Christ, be my life! Truly live! Overcome as I wave the flag of complete surrender!
Everything else is loss and holds us back from knowing the true God. Everything. Nothing can take the place of Christ as life within us. We cannot find life in marriage, children, a bigger house, a nice car (or even one that runs), the best computer or phone, careers, friendships, or anything. Life must become one thing: Christ. It doesn't mean that we are no longer responsible for parenting, our marriages, or responsibilities. It does mean that if Christ is life, He affects all those things for the glory of God.
Pass it on. Let people know what Life is. Begin to truly live.
4 comments:
...it's no longer I who live, but CHRIST who lives through me! This life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and died for me!
Begs a question, doesn't it? Have we died yet?
I think there are two "deaths" involved in conversion... The first one, death to sin, happens immediately... It's the smashing of the chains that enslave to our old selves, our old "nature", our old path. The other death is a holy "poison", that takes a long time to take affect, it slowly strangles out our selfishness over time... WE are slowly replaced by HIM... like night becoming day, it happens a little at a time, often so slowly you don't even notice, until suddenly light has replaced dark, joy has replaced bitterness and Jesus has replaced the man. At some point we get consumed by, and totally lost in Christ...
I agree. I hope it becomes more natural for me to die a little more so He can live more within and through me. The battle between my flesh and spirit is constant. And the little battles must be won to keep the antidote to my flesh away so it can fully happen. Whatever is left of this fleshy self must also be starved for my spirit to come fully alive in Christ.
Post a Comment