IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU OR ME
OR EVEN THE CHURCH
Jesus came announcing the Kingdom of God.
He invited us to be a part of it. An invitation that was a gift. We could not earn it. We did not deserve it. A gift of love that involved Jesus (God in human flesh) living as a human, being tortured to death, buried, risen on the third day, and then taking his place as LORD of the Universe. He invited us to recognize that fact and build our lives around it. Living our lives as he had.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NLT
Very clear! After belief in who Jesus was, the Messiah, our next step in following is “to give up our own way”.
That is one I am still working on.
Every day is a battle because I want it to be about me. I want Jesus to help me with MY problems. To answer MY prayers on MY schedule. To change MY situations so it is better for ME and MINE.
In the Bible, people like Paul often describe themselves as “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.” Romans 1:1 NLT
CHOSEN, SLAVE, and SENT. All under the command of God and Jesus. He had given up his way of being a “big shot” in the Jewish Religion and was now seen as their enemy (following the path of Jesus and in his footsteps).
Since he is part of the Kingdom, he is now under the command of the head of the Kingdom, and his duty is to serve and obey King Jesus regardless of the cost to him personally. That cost was extremely high in his case. Loss of position, dependent on others for finances, strong opposition from religion-his own and others, opposition from Government and from within his own group. Martyrdom.
He was a SLAVE of God. A servant who put control of his life into the hands of God regardless of the outcome.
That should describe us. But I keep trying to get God to make my life easier. For Him to serve me. To answer my prayers.
In other words, I keep trying to get him to serve me rather than me serve him.
That is idolatry. That is often the attitude of Christians and the Church. It is now the Kingdom of ME, not the Kingdom of God.