- That there is exceedingly abundant POWER for walking the worthy walk that God has called us to. Once again we see here that what God calls us to He equips and empowers us for. Hallelujah. See yesterday's blog for more.
- Secondly, this immediate context from Paul's prayer tells us the MOTIVE we are to have for walking the worthy walk. What is this motive? We are to live our lives so that to HIM will be "...glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations..." 3:21. The ultimate motive for all we do is THE GLORY OF GOD (see 1 Corinthians 10:31). We can think we are living for God's fame and for Christ's fame when it is OUR FAME we are living for. We can think we are living for God's fame and glory when we are just trying to MAKE SURE we have a place in heaven when we die. We can be committed to discipleship so that we LOOK LIKE a disciple to others. There is a high value placed on commitment in the church, and well there should be. But it is easy, with our still sin-marred hearts, to conform to the church's expectations instead of Christ's. WHO AM I LIVING FOR? Does the love and grace of my Father move me to LIFESTYLE LOVE in return? Is my life a continual "THANK YOU, LORD!" and "WHAT A GREAT GOD IS MY GOD!"?
When we are motivated by the desire that God would be seen as great instead of ourselves we are more and more set free to the joyful and bold obedience that DOES indeed lead to Christ receiving glory in the church.
I once heard of a prayer that a former president of my college prayed, "Lord, give me a heart at leisure from itself." I have never forgotten that prayer and have never stopped praying it for myself and others. A heart at leisure from itself: from concern about what others think, from concern about itself, BECAUSE it knows the Father has taken care of my past, present, and future in Christ.
Lord, give us a heart at leisure from itself and passionately taken up with Christ. Sola Deo Gloria.
No comments:
Post a Comment