I was reading a devotion the other day from RZIM titled Easy Living and it forced me to stop and think about who I am.
Am I a Christian? Yes. That one was easy.
Am I a pilgrim? What does this even mean? What is a pilgrim? I think back on my recent humanities class where we discussed the pilgrimages to the huge cathedrals in Europe that the folks would make. Was it a once a year sacrifice? Or did it take longer to save up for that type of journey then?
Am I a disciple? This is where I want to be Рa follower of Christ, not just one who believes But what are the characteristics of a disciple? What did the first disciples sacrifice to follow Christ? Their livelihoods, families, friends, social standing, even their lives. [clich̩ alert] If I was on trial today for being a disciple of Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict?
There’s a term that keeps coming up in different things I’m reading: the supremacy of Christ. I am certain He is better than anything else, but do my actions, does my life, reflect the supremacy of Christ?
A life lived exalting Christ would be free of idols; they’d be sacrificed in our worship of Him. Yeah, there are little idols in my life, but they are just tools to worship my true idol, myself. I sing songs every week declaring I will love only Him, serve only Him, worship Him alone, but I fail, often before I even get out the doors of church.
How do I sacrifice my life to live a life the reflects the supremacy of Christ? When I ask this, I know a good chunk of me is really asking, How do I sacrifice without any inconvenience or pain? Or even better, how do I sacrifice without really giving up anything?
I frequently find myself placing grace between me and the alter. Does God really want me to give up spending two hours a night reading about the world’s ills? If I just start giving things up, isn’t that a bit legalistic – that can’t be better than giving up something with which God has blessed me, can it? I can continue to rationalize myself away from sacrifice all day.
But now, miles away, I can see more clearly (though I’m not much stronger) that on the other side of sacrifice are even richer blessings – not health, or wealth, but a closer, deeper relationship with Christ.
2 comments:
Can you start putting a couple Bible verses with your posts so that when we die our children can bind it up and sell it as the best devotional since Oswald Chambers?
I love you, idols and all.
What a great post! It makes me think of a song by Casting Crowns called From the Altar to the Door...about how we are so inspired at Church and have such good intentions and that somehow we lose them by the time we walk out the door. Sad but true. We can do better!
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