11/03/2017
Do you have a plan for your life? Have you set everything before you and determined what pieces of the puzzle go where, and begun the process of fitting them perfectly together? If so, there is probably a nice spot for God, another for Jesus, and oh yes, let’s not forget the Holy Spirit, but is that really how our life is formed, and our faith is shaped?
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 ESV
Jesus changes our lives! He takes all of the pieces that we thought would fit together into a picturesque landscape, and recuts them into new ones. If that recutting takes place in our lives then we find that the new picture we have been given will be a holy one... a picture of heaven, Jesus, white robed saints, and God Himself. Working on it will bring us such things as victory, suffering, enlightenment, great love, children, a wonderful life lived of faith, comfort, joy, and all the things that God heaps on those who choose His Son as their Savior, and confess Him as their One True God.
Aside from the images of Jesus, God, and the heavenly host surrounding us, the picture puzzles of our lives will be different for each of us. My life might include becoming a saint, yours a pastor, someone else’s a missionary, or perhaps we will be pictured as an accountant, a fireman, or some other worldly profession. Whatever is in store for us in life, whether it be joy, or suffering, it will be good, and lead us to a deeper faith. Each will ultimately depict the fulfilling of God’s will for us. The central theme of every picture that Jesus constructs is one of righteousness, the focal figure is God, and our posture is one of servitude, and holiness.
The question we must answer is “who will determine which puzzle we will make?” It all boils down to how we envision our deaths... will my puzzle be an easy earthly death followed by a blank puzzle piece, or a spiritual death on the cross with Jesus, and an entirely repainted puzzle with a glorious final piece? Oswald Chambers saw this as breaking from ourselves, but the result is the same...
“The one point to decide is - Will I give up, will I surrender to Jesus Christ, and make no condition whatever as to how the break comes? I must be broken from my self-realization, and immediately that point is reached, the reality of the supernatural identification takes place at once, and the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable - “I have been crucified with Christ”” - Oswald Chambers
I once knew a person who worked very complex puzzles, and in the end he wouldn’t just admire them for a while only to tear them apart and place them back in the box, but he would put a sealer on top to preserve them, frame them, and then hang them on the wall. These weren’t just any old puzzles, but puzzles of masterpieces that contained many thousands of pieces. They took incredible effort and many hours to put together. How long have you been working on yours? Will it be a masterpiece when you are finished, or just some cute image that people will chuckle at, or say “that’s nice” about? Has the effort itself trapped you into completing it, or can you push it aside and let the puzzle of Jesus Christ become your life’s work?
So as we choose the life we wish to live, what will it look like? Will we continue to line up our own pieces and try our best to finish with a pretty picture, or will we be crucified with Christ and allow His life in us to become the glorious puzzle, and masterpiece, that ends with eternal life... a life’s effort suitable for framing? What is your choice?
Choose!
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the life, death, and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ. I thank you Father for the invitation to be crucified with Him, and to have my life changed forever. I desire a life in which You, Jesus, and I live one in another as scripture depicts (John 14:20). My mind’s eye wanders to scenes of eternal glory, and even as I am enthralled by my imagination, I know that the reality pales in comparison to my near sightedness. Holy Father, keep me in your bosom until that day when we will look at the completed puzzle of my life together, and you will reveal the work, the masterpiece, that you painted there. Today Lord, I can only trust in you and let my faith affirm your work in me, but on that day I will be drawn aback and shown what was completed by your hand. Help me Father to persevere as I do those things you would have me do, and let each piece of this immense puzzle be placed exactly where you would have it go. Let all of this Father, my crucifixion, my life in Christ, your will, and my answer to it, be to your praise and glory forever.
Rich Forbes