Reflections of a Believer
Last week I spoke of how no matter how good we are, we all needed Christ to stand in and bare our sins on His shoulders. I compared my before Christ snapshot reel with my after Christ snapshot reel only to realize both before Christ and after, I have made mistakes. My realizations did not end there. I also realized that although I made mistakes, my life before Christ looked completely different that my life after Christ.
I wonder how many Christians can say the same thing? How many can say their snapshots after Christ look different than their pre Christ life?
One thing I realized while comparing these two times in my life was, although I am not perfect, my life is so much more fulfilling now than when I was living life for myself.
Unfortunately, there is no distinctive line between Christians and non-Christians when it comes to living life for yourself. Many professed Christians today have fallen into the trap of living for themselves.
They live a life of hyper-grace that tells them they can do anything they want. They miss church when the want to. They neglect reading their Bible and praying. And, they do anything that feels good to their flesh.
One of the problems with this ideology revolves around the fact that we, as Christians, should not behave as our unsaved counterparts. When we profess the name of Jesus as our Lord, we should begin to change the way we act and think.
The Bible says, “I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer, but Christ lives in me. Now I live my life in my body by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 NIRV
Being crucified with Christ means we should no longer look as the world looks, but be a new creation. After all, according to 1 Peter 2:9, we have been set apart. This verse reads, “But God chose you to be his people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are God’s special treasure. You are all these things so that you can give him praise. God brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 NIRV
If we have been brought into the light, and our actions should mirror His, then our snapshots should be progressively growing closer to the image of Jesus we see in the New Testament.
So, I ask you today, how do your snapshots measure up to those of Jesus? Are you being transformed from glory to glory( 2 Corinthians 3:18), or do you look more like the world? Only you can answer that question.
Father, we come to you and ask that you help us to see where we need to look more like you. Where do we need to be refined? Please help us desire you more than the things of this world. Help us to grow closer to you. Amen
