Gave Up

"You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross." Philippians 2:5-8

It was already a very emotional moment. Having lived in the orphanage for nearly seven years, the other kids and the good-hearted teachers were the only family our son had. As he was leaving to join our family, the tears were flowing. The other kids were all up near the van as the driver prepared to leave. In the hands of one of the other little boys was a Spiderman action figure. We had bought it for our son and he loved it. Apparently, as he prepared his little suitcase to head into his new life, he gave his action figure away to his buddy.

As we reflect on Paul's call to be like Jesus, he noted that the core of Jesus' example was giving up. First, he gave up his divine privileges. What?! I don't even understand what that means much less getting my head around the fact that he did it. Surely that was giving up enough. Nope. He continued to give up more by taking the position of a slave. Seriously?! Surely, that's got to be far enough! Nope. He then went all the way to the cross and gave up his life for us. Paul tells us, "Be like him."

Jesus followers are to be marked by extraordinary sacrifice. Give up. Jesus did. Paul did. What about us? Much of the tension we experience in our walk with God can be traced to an unwillingness to let go of something we don't want to let go of. It may be desires, plans, wants, time, stuff, comfort, money, pride, preferences just to name a few. Is there anything in our life that we are white knuckling today? My guess is we all have a Spiderman action figure that needs to be given away. There is a new life on the other side.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more