Many times in my life I have heard mature and not-so-mature Christians state that they want to follow Jesus by living a life parallel to Him and following His way from afar. They have stated that living a godly life of total commitment is unrealistic, so the desire is to "do the best we can" and make our best effort to follow Christ. That seems to be a very relevant way for a fallen people to live for a Holy God. The only problem is that it doesn't line up with scripture when it comes to a transforming life. The difference is this:
We don't try to live up to what Christ wants to do
through our life; we allow Christ to live through
our lives by giving Him our all.
through our life; we allow Christ to live through
our lives by giving Him our all.
All our wants, desires, direction, purpose and many other characteristics that make up a Christ-like person are all Christ-generated, not self-generated. We can't do anything on our own that will ever measure up to Christ. We begin making strides for transformation by allowing Him to totally control our life -- not following alongside Him or parallel with Christ, but directly in line with Christ and following His footsteps.
You say, "What is the difference?" One is keeping some cards in our hand to allow us to keep a part of our commitment to the world and pick and choose how much we want to give to Christ. The other is totally giving 100% to Christ and allowing Him to totally transform us into someone who is "sold out" to Him. The first is living a life that is parallel to Christ and the second is living a life that is joined with Christ. Total transformation and renewal only comes when we give it all to Him. Unparalleled service.
What are the benefits? Godly power, godly purpose, godly passion and godly provision. Trust God with all your life. The rest is just details...
Keep on leading worship like we had last Sunday. Lives are being changed and our church is being revived. You are a significant part of what God is doing. Keep doing it!
You are a precious people and God is powerful in your lives. Thanks for your great commitment to unparalleled service to our Lord.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
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