05/17/2019
It is one thing to say we are Christians, and that Jesus is our Lord, but until we take on His image, and walk as He walked, then we have missed the mark. We can dress ourselves up in all the religion we like, and not win a day in heaven without assuming the likeness of Christ. So if you tell me you go to church every Sabbath, and that you pray each day, or that you have been baptized and take communion... I might still look at you and ask “then why don’t you reflect Jesus?” When you look at your own reflection do you see Jesus looking back?
“whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
1 John 2:6 ESV
If our earthly father is a liar or a thief then the last thing we want is to be like him, but if he is a good and loving man then we want all the world to see him in us... we want to be known as our father’s son. Jesus is the image of our good and loving Father, and it should be our greatest desire to walk as He walks, and to reflect our Heavenly Father jus as He does. How can we ever say that God and His Son Jesus Christ abide in us and we in them if others see none of who they are in us? If that is the case then we are either fooling ourselves, or are liars. Charles Spurgeon says this...
“There is no weapon half as deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent Christians injure the gospel more than the sneering of critics or unbelievers.” - Charles Spurgeon
Do we exude love? Do we bring God’s love into the world by our actions, and in those times when we don’t think that anyone is watching? Have we moved from imitating Jesus into being like Him? If we truly have Jesus abiding in us then He will be evident in everything we do without our having to think about it.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.”
1 John 4:16-17 ESV
I moved from Virginia to Nashville in 1976, and at that time I had a strong Virginia accent. People would ask me where I was from at the grocery store, or at work, but over time they quit asking, and it was so subtle that I didn’t even realize what was happening. Then one Thanksgiving I was visiting with my family back home in Virginia, and I met one of my old high school buddies; the first thing he said was “What in the world has happened to your accent?” It dawned on me then that I had become a Tennessean, and specifically a Nashvillian. This is what happens in our faith as well. We walk and talk with Jesus, trying to keep up, and taking extra steps to get back into stride with Him, but one day it dawns on us that we aren’t trying so hard anymore... our stride has become perfectly matched with His, and our accent is indistinguishable from His.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
As we become perfected in the Lord the effort that we once had to put forth to accomplish certain aspects of our faith seems normal to us, and as a matter of fact we don’t realize it as effort at all. What we once struggled to do seems trivial, and our faith has moved us to a different degree of glory. Perhaps you feel this already happening in your walk of faith. Sometimes when this occurs we think that our faith isn’t what it once was, when in fact we have reached a new plateau and are on the verge of another step forward... the old struggle now has become commonplace to us. When this happens to you then take a moment to look at who you are now as compared with who you were the moment you first believed, or who you were at the beginning of your last season in faith... then thank God for your progress and ask Him... “Show me the next step Father.”
Walking like Jesus, talking with the accent of God, effortlessly resisting sins that once controlled us, and loving like we never loved before... these are all attributes of Christ that we want to have reflected in our lives. So are you simply attending church, or going through the motions of religion? If this is true of you then it is time for a long walk with Jesus... a journey of faith that is personal, and by which you form a relationship, perfect your stride, and speak with a new accent. Today is the day when you should open yourself up to the Holy Spirit, and not only answer the knock of Jesus at your door, but invite Him in.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who has redeemed me by His sacrifice upon the cross, and who teaches me to be more like you with each passing day. Help me Holy Father to swing the door of my heart open to your Son, and to walk beside Him as He walks stride for stride with you. Help me in my unbelief Father, and take away the hollow imitations of faithfulness in my life. Teach me a new gait, and strengthen me for the next leg of my journey with you. When I have been perfected in this, my current level of glory, then don’t let me feel like I have grown stagnant in my faith Lord, but direct me along a new path towards my next challenge of faith. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who neither leaves me behind nor abandons me as I seek to be like you. Praised be your name for making me in your image, and perfecting me in it. All glory is yours Holy Father, and by your mercy and grace you bask in it. I worship you now and forever!
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!”
Psalms 143:10-11 ESV