As human beings subject to the flesh that clothes and houses our
bodies and souls there are more than enough opportunities for us to
“work” on ourselves. Male and female alike, though as a girl I
can vouch that every girl does this, looks at themselves and about
all we see are our flaws. Slight flab there, not quite the chiseled
jaw line here; that kind of thing. I believe it would be the same
with our souls, if we could look at them in a mirror. We would
notice only the many imperfections, both slight and obvious.
Paul the Apostle, a righteous fellow who recognized how very flawed
he himself was, encouraged believers to “work out” their own
salvation with fear and trembling. He certainly wasn't hinting that
we are responsible for saving ourselves, but only that the gift of
salvation would be an intimate and personal journey, not exactly the
same for each of us.
This weeks dilemma that we will consider is how we might respond to
the biblical instruction that we are to "Be Holy even as God is
Holy" (Leviticus 11:45 & I Peter 1:16) while realizing that
we cannot ever attain that state in and of ourselves. We cannot work
for it, earn it or make it happen no matter what we do, so God
graciously provided an absolute solution. Through the work
accomplished on the Cross where Jesus freely sacrificed Himself for
us, we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus.
When we rest in, recognize and accept that truth then our energies
and efforts will be freed to move forward doing the activities God
has instructed us to do because our focus isn't wasted on trying to
do for ourselves that which God has already done. These include to:
- feed the hungry
- clothe the naked
- visit those in prison
- remember the orphans and the widows
I think of it as similar to the story in the Old Testament when God
told the Israelites “I place before you Life and Death”.
(Deuteronomy 30:15 – 19) I think He made it so they could see the
goodness, light and joy of life. They could also see the darkness,
misery and emptiness in Death. On top of all that God GAVE them the
right answer. CHOOSE LIFE. Yet still some chose DEATH! (Oh why do
we do that?!?)
I see so many people in the Church who read that we are freely
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. They read and hear about the
effortless joy of choosing to trust and believe and REST in the peace
of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Yet even
though we can see the exhaustion that results from constant activity
we still tend to strive uselessly and hopelessly to clothe ourselves
in righteousness thorugh our works. Even though we are taught
clearly that our own righteousness will NEVER be anything but filthy
rags. We see it, yet we cannot seem to help but attempt on our own
to gain that which God has already freely given us.
James 2: 14-26 offers a marvelous solution with understanding,
bringing out the importance of faith while acknowledging the
necessity of actual actions being taken. It isn't enough to talk
about the things that need to be done. And it doesn't make sense to
do things without really understanding the how and why of them.
Blending and balancing the two leads to making what may be the finest
choice you ever make.
God does such a fine job and needs no help from us, so lean back into
His loving arms and let Him clothe you in righteousness. Then you
get the joy of fulfilling His plan and purpose for your life.
Simple. Joyful. Peaceful. Isn't that grand?
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