This weekend I found myself in a conversation that I didn't expect to have. It wasn't one of those conversations that I knew was coming so I had time to prepare for it. It just happened, and I was sitting with someone trying to put my relationship with Jesus into words. Words that had meaning to me, and words that would mean something to them. I'm not sure how often this has happened to you, but it can be harder than you think. Not because I was trying to explain the gospel to them, they got that part. But I was trying to explain why I live my life the way I do. It was very obvious to them that I had a strong belief in Jesus, but why did that cause me to do, and more importantly, NOT do certain things.
As I reflected on that conversation later, it brought me to today's post. Jesus taught the disciples by letting the look intimately into His life and then asking them to do what He what did. For them, this meant witnessing a man who was going to be living each day without sin...completely without sin....and then trying to live as they saw Jesus live. They got to sit with Him, walk with Him, talk with Him and watch Him minister to others, however, He did not just expect them to only "do" what He did, but He would teach them along the way as well. Explaining what the Father wanted and why He was here to change things. He was teaching them to remove an old way of thinking and introducing a whole new way to get to the Father. Yes, they may have gotten to see it first hand, but we still have the chance to mirror His life by every detail we read in the bible about Jesus' life and His teachings. We have just as much opportunity to live the way Jesus lived and understand why.
Jesus taught His disciples by letting them into His life.....letting them witness all that He did and then teaching them along the way. Would you or I be willing to do the same? Do you live a life so close to Jesus that you would be willing to let someone "mirror" your life as you teach them why you do and don't do certain things? Does that thought scare you? To be perfectly honest, it does me. Why?.....because that means they are going to also see my flaws, my mistakes. But shouldn't they? Shouldn't they see you receive grace and mercy from Jesus and then also see how you offer that same grace and mercy to others? Could you let them see how much time you spend with God? Your time in prayer, devotions, serving and listening. Would they see you trying to grow more in Christ and would you be able to explain why all of these things are important? I ask these questions for 2 reasons....One is because there really may be a day (if it hasn't happened already) that God sends someone into your life for you to guide. For you to not just tell them how amazing God is how much you want to serve Him....but to also show them that with your own life. And the 2nd reason I ask those questions is this....shouldn't you already be living like you are trying to "show" others who Jesus is and how amazing He is to you? If you haven't thought about that before, let today be an awakening. We, as Christ's followers, should be living lives that we would invite people to live. Admitting that we do have faults, but showing them how we are forgiven and that in itself is what drives us to try to live different than the rest of the world. If we know God is willing to show us grace and mercy when we mess up, when we sin, then shouldn't our love back to Him drive us to not want to put that grace and mercy to the test. Just because we know He loves us, that shouldn't give us an excuse to "test" His love, forgiveness, grace and mercy. And then there is the part where WE need to show others how to offer that same love, forgiveness, grace and mercy to others by doing it...probably one of the most important parts of serving Jesus.
As you live out each day of your life you really have 2 choices....you can live it for yourself and act how you want to act, or....you can live it for Jesus and live in a way that people will see Him in your live. The choice is yours, but either way someone IS watching your life and if you claim to follow Him they are either going to be drawn to Christ or pushed away, by how they see you live.
God, help us remember that everywhere we go, everything we do, is supposed to bring honor and glory to Your name. Help us see that there is a lost world that NEEDS to see You in our lives, not just in our words. Let the changes that You have made on the inside of us be seen clearly by others on the outside of us. And help us to mirror the love and forgiveness that Christ demonstrated for us. In Jesus name, Amen.
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