October 13, 2019 OUR LIFE IS A LETTER
2 Corinthians 3:2-3a “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ,
2 Corinthians 5:9, 15 “Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.” “and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
We make choices. We decide what course we take in life. We choose how we respond. We choose to live according to our own preferences or according to the ways of God. These realities remind me of Joshua when he said to the people: “Choose this Day Whom You Will Serve.” Joshua 24:14. We are experts at justifying to ourselves and others, why we do what we do. One of the pivotal points or a crucial awareness for believers is to know that as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us, ‘we are not our own.’ It is a major deal for us to realize that we are no longer our own-we belong to God. Life is not about ME; life is about fulfilling the purposes and plans that God has for me. We are called to die to our old self-to who we use to be before we knew the Lord as Savior. Galatians 2:20. However, the really good news for us is that when we die to self and see ourselves as belonging to God, we experience life to the fullest. It is a mystery how dying to self brings life-a seed must die before it produces. God is our Creator, and as Creator, He knows us better than we could ever know ourselves and He knows exactly what we need to live a meaningful and fulfilled life. God gave the scriptures and He gave us His Spirit that we might know Him and also know our purposes in life. To hold a copy of the word of God in our hands is a miracle indeed; His word is the ultimate guide book for life. As we read the scriptures, we are able to see life as God sees life, and we are able to come to an understanding as to how God sees us. From the verses above, we see that the life we live is a ‘letter.’ The very life we live day by day is a letter that is read by all we come in contact with. Wow! Our ‘letter’ can be a letter that speaks of the love of God, forgiveness, kindness, gentleness, hope, confidence, peace, joy, fellowship, an all the things that comprise life as a son or daughter of God. We do not write our ‘letter;’ the Holy Spirit in us enables us to live according to the ways of God that are found in the scriptures, and by yielding to the work of the Spirit and walking in the ways of God, we become living epistles. May we choose to live in such a way that when others ‘read our letter’-observe our life, they will see the evidence of God at work in us.
2 Corinthians 5:20a “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,”
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed