Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.
As we go through this week’s scripture, we are going to see a continuing theme of being saved by God’s grace, not the law. And as each passage focuses on that theme, there are important truths to be gained from each one.
In today’s verses, we’re going to look at the importance of God’s grace over checking boxes. Think for a second about someone you know who is so worried about doing every little thing right. They want everything they do to be perfect, an 11/10, an overachiever. Maybe you are that person, and if so, I am so sorry for the pressure you are under all the time. I say that because I used to be that way too, and at some point, I realized something had to give before it crushed me. While I think it is great to do your best at what you do in life, sometimes this is how people view religion. They have to follow a list of rules and check every single box every single day. And, if for some reason, they weren’t able to read their Bible that day, it sends them into overdrive thinking that God isn’t going to love them anymore. But that is the beauty of God’s grace. We don’t have to be perfect all the time. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect, because there has only ever been and ever will be one perfect person - Jesus. Sidenote: This is not me giving you permission to go off the rails and stop doing the “right things.” The law, or the “rules,” are relevant and give us a standard of living to follow so that our lives may reflect Jesus. However, when we realize it is God’s incredible grace that saves us and not our own futile, exhausting efforts to check a box on a list; we can focus more on the joy of living a life rooted in Christ and focus on others rather than running the rat race of trying to do all the things to make Him love us.
I want to focus on verse 20 for just a minute. We have probably all heard this verse at some point, and some of us have sung it with our whole being at church camp, a concert, or in our car- thank you so much Phillips, Craig, and Dean. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about here, then Google “Crucified with Christ, Phillips, Craig and Dean.” But really, the point here is that when we accept God’s grace and gift of salvation through Jesus’ death, it comes with a price - surrendering, and crucifying our flesh. Not just one time, but daily. It’s not about a momentary decision and then the next day we go back to our old ways. We must daily choose to crucify our sinful nature and desires so that we can live like God. Is it easy? Absolutely not! Can it be terrifying? Of course! I struggle. Every. Single. Day. I wake up and ask God to help me look like Him in my actions and my reactions that day, and then on the way to work someone pulls out in front of me and my flesh jumps out faster than my toddler snatching food off my plate! But, the more we commit ourselves daily to live like Christ and to fight sin through His power in us, the more we will show faith over flesh in our lives. And when we do mess up, God has given us His grace and forgiveness to get us back on track.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.
Reflections:
- What “rules” are you allowing to dictate your life rather than God’s grace?
- How can you crucify your flesh daily?
- Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for the sacrifice that You made on the cross for my sins. Help me to take up my cross each day and not view following You as following a list of rules. In Jesus' name, Amen.