Jesus Is Life, part 2

Do you ever have those times when a specific verse speaks to you and it keeps coming up, sometimes totally out of the blue, and it seems to relate to everything that's going on in your life lately? For the past year or so, Romans 12:1,2 did that for me, and I think it relates to Tiff's question:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -— this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -— his good, pleasing and perfect will."

You see, when I read the Romans passage, I say "Wow, yeah! That's what I need to do: be transformed, be a living sacrifice, live everyday for God and worship Him. That's what it's all about!" Then the logistics part of my personality cuts in and says "Wait a second, HOW in the world do I do that? Give me a 12 step program to go from a living sack-of-potatoes to a living sacrifice. I mean it's great to have that desire, but how do I put that desire into action?"

Lately another has come in that has also a big part of my life. It's Colossians 3:1-4:

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

This life is about setting our hearts and minds on things above. It's about realizing that the world has absolutely NOTHING to offer us, nothing that will satisfy us as much as following God's call for our lives and giving Him all the glory for any success we have. Our lives are HIDDEN WITH CHRIST! What does that mean? As one commentary puts it "Christ is at present a hidden Christ, or one whom we have not seen; but this is our comfort, that our life is hidden with him, and laid up safely with Him." What security that gives us! How important to remember that no matter where we are or what we are doing, Christ is with us, and the Holy Spirit is acting in us and through us, even in spite of us. When Gregg Matte speaks about this verse he says "Jesus is life! Jesus is not just a part of life, He's not just the giver of life, Jesus IS life." I watched a video where people were asked what they are passionate about. Most of them said family, careers, success. Typical American answers. If we are asked that question, we should respond with the typical Sunday school answer "Jesus" and mean it with all our heart. And we are called to take that answer out into the world, to those lost souls who don't have a clue what that means.

Now, at this point, I find myself saying "Man, that is so true. Christ is all I have to live for, but wow, how often I fail to make him part of my day. How many times I fall into the trap of pleasing the world and pleasing myself. How many times I pass up opportunities to be Christ's ambassador." Part of that is my self-critical nature, but another part of that is Christ's conviction working in my life, transforming me and working on my heart. For me, it's so important to remember God's grace. We will fail. There will be times we are the ones at the party misbehaving and leaving Christ behind. And He will convict us to recognize those times and live more fully for Him. And other times, we will be the ones speaking up at the party and leading by example. And those times only happen because Jesus is our life and the Holy Spirit is empowering us to take a stand for what we know is right. Since our lives are hidden with Christ, God looks past our failures, and sees us as who we are in Christ. He sees us as the person He is shaping us to be. What a wonderful "work in progress" we are!