Saturday, July 3, 2010

Reflect Jesus

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

-- 2 Corinthians 3:18

One good thing about being on the road a lot is that I get exposed to different radio stations and different commentator's. Yesterday I heard a radio station replay a listener's devotional. It was awesome. And spot on as I drove in heavy pre-holiday traffic.

We call ourselves Christians but do our actions reflect Jesus? Think about it. Being a Christian really is more than just accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Why? Because when we accept Him as Lord and Savior, we are changed inside. That change isn't just a coat we put on come Sunday morning. It's a 24/7 change. When we are truly saved, others should see Jesus within us. If they don't, we've got a problem.

I don't want anyone to misunderstand what I'm saying. Obviously, belief in Jesus' death and resurrection brings salvation. Works -- no matter how good or how many -- won't earn anybody a ticket to heaven. Only Jesus can give us eternal life. My point is simply that true believers -- those within whom Jesus lives -- change with the Holy Spirit enters us.

That change continues throughout our life on this planet. We are sinners. We are constantly falling short of God's Glory, but we are forever trying. We seek His face. We hunger for Him.

Getting back to the listener's comments, she said that we look out and see how other people's actions impact ours and we react accordingly. For example, we get upset when someone cuts us off in traffic. We fuss. We wish bad things for the driver. Would Jesus do that? Not likely. He would pray for the driver. He would know the reason for the driver's recklessness. He would respond with caring and compassion -- for the other person. How can we do anything less?

It gets back to what Rick Warren said. It's not about us. Really. It's about other people. It's about kindness and compassion and a helping hand for those around us. No. It's not okay for them to almost cause a wreck or hurt our feelings or do any of the many things we sinners do. We can't control what others do. But we can control our response. We can choose to respond with prayer and compassion. That is how vJesus gets reflected back to others from within us. That is being who we are called to be.