Thursday, March 18, 2010

Let Others See Jesus In You

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." -- 2 Corinthians 5:20

What exactly does it mean to be reconciled to God? To reconcile is to bring harmony to something, to restore it. That's the very core of what Jesus did for us. I guess I always knew that but Pastor Susannah really brought it home last Sunday.

Jesus died for us so that we could be reconciled to God. He lived on this earth to show us how to live so that our lives and our will might be consistent with God's will. Oh, we still sin. We are human. But we have an example, a Savior that came to show us the way.

What exactly do people see when they look at us? Pastor Susannah asked this question and it's really something to think about. Do I live my life so that others see Jesus in me? Or do they look at me and think that if I'm what a Christian is they want no part of it?

All relationships are a two-way street. God gave us His son and, through Him, the opportunity to have eternal life. So what have we given God in return? Besides our broken selves, that is. How are we changing our lives in response to all He has done for us? Yeah. Pastor Susannah has a way of speaking to our very core.

Sometimes we want to wait for a better day to devote lots of time and money to a worthy cause. But maybe what God really wants is for us to take the little steps every day. Not that the big steps aren't wonderful. But we run the risk of waiting for a day that never comes. We can make a phone call, encourage a child, donate the cost of lunch or sooth a crying child while his mother takes a break.

Think about it. Jesus had such compassion and kindness for those around Him. He didn't turn anyone away, no matter how tired He must have been. He drew strength from God and gave of Himself to the sick and the weak, the forgotten and the outcasts. He didn't take the common path. He took the right path, refusing to care whether that path was popular or not. We would do well to remember that.

We can never, ever deserve the gift God gave us in His Son Jesus Christ. But we can embrace that gift and share it with others by letting them see through our words and actions that Jesus lives within us.