Romans 6:11 (NASB) --- Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Last night I had the privilege of visiting a friend's church, Andrew Shanks and Fontaine Church, in our community and hearing another friend, Michael Waddell from The Table, preach about us living for Jesus. One of the last statements that Michael made blew me away. Can't get this out of my mind. Here is what he said:
Who is waiting on you to die so they can live?
That is a powerful question that seems to be to need some clarification. Look at the verse above. We must praise God that He took away our sin and has caused our old sinful life to die. It is at that point that God caused s to have new life and the promise of eternal life which makes us alive in Jesus.
God calls us to die. That is to die to ourselves and to live a life that counts for Him. You can demonstrate that by not living in a selfish way. Just like our thought earlier this week of answering the question is we are givers or takers. Do we live selfish or selfless lives?
Matthew 16:24 (NASB) --- Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
To follow Jesus we have to deny ourselves or die to ourselves. At that point, taking up our cross means do whatever it takes to live for God. No matter the cost living for Jesus. That means that we will die so others can live.
One of the facts that I thought of after Mike made this statement is about people who give their organs to others after they die. Those people literally are giving pieces of themselves so others can live. But we too can die so others can live. We don't have to die to help others live, but we might have to die to ourselves. That really means that we do things for others before we do things for ourselves.
Philippians 2:3-5 (NASB) --- Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
This question is real. This question must be answered by each one of us. It is your turn. Think about your family, neighbors, friends, coworkers or others ... Who is waiting on you to die so they might live?
1 comment:
This idea of having to "die" to myself has been powerful for me this year. I hope it lives in me for a lifetime. Thanks for the reinforcement. Great stuff!
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