Monday, May 07, 2007
Survival
Justin Taylor linked to a short meditation at Desiring God that may be one of the best things I have EVER read.
Christ is not our model, not our example, HE IS OUR GUIDE - we must follow Him down the path He has taken, and that path leads to death. The good news is that like Issac, a substitute sacrifice will appear. But if we do not go all the way, if we do not lay ourselves on the altar, we will never discover that substitute. WE WILL NEVER BE FREE.
God does not let us take this for granted. Too often we think we know the substitute will be there so we don't even bother to walk out and build the altar. But then we are never really saved either.
If we do not risk it all, we can not get it all.
Related Tags: survival, sacrifice, salvation, substitute, faith
If we make survival the chief goal, we very often can survive, but what do we become in the process? To survive we pay the price of bondage. But if we can settle the issue of survival, we are truly free. Survival wasn’t the issue for Jesus. Jesus was willing to die, hence no one could make him do anything that would compromise his integrity or mission.Two scriptures immediately popped into my head:
Matt 16:25 - For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.We are called to follow Christ - all the way to the cross - all the way into death.
Gal 2:20a - I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live...
Christ is not our model, not our example, HE IS OUR GUIDE - we must follow Him down the path He has taken, and that path leads to death. The good news is that like Issac, a substitute sacrifice will appear. But if we do not go all the way, if we do not lay ourselves on the altar, we will never discover that substitute. WE WILL NEVER BE FREE.
God does not let us take this for granted. Too often we think we know the substitute will be there so we don't even bother to walk out and build the altar. But then we are never really saved either.
If we do not risk it all, we can not get it all.
Related Tags: survival, sacrifice, salvation, substitute, faith
