I read Pastor Larry Christian’s book, Back to Square One and he says there are 3 ways to live the Christian life: you can choose the right way, the wrong way, or the gospel way. We all know what it is like to choose the wrong way but what is wrong with choosing the right way of following all the rules and trying to live a good life? Well, it is dependent on us, and what we can do or ought to do. We soon find we are falling into legalism and that is a dead-end street for we look to the law rather than the Lord. But the gospel way is all about what God is doing in us, and we are energized and dependent on Him. Much different when our expectancy is on the Lord, and we know we can’t do it on our own for it is all about grace and not our own effort. In fact, God takes the initiative and creates good works for us to do and prepares us to do them. All the while the Spirit works in us to become more like Jesus. Sometimes we are surprised at how many of the old temptations have fallen away and our negative reactions are not as frequent as they use to be and we find we are being changed. All the glory goes to the Lord, for He is transforming us as we are doing the things He has prepared for us to do.
No, we don’t become loving and holy overnight but we are on our way, just like my sister when she was learning how to play the violin. She wasn’t a concert violinist starting out and I had to cover my ears, but she was on the way and now a beautiful violinist. God’s way is also slow, and patient and puts before us each day what He knows we can handle as we are slowly changing to be like Him.
Leave a Reply