Back to the Basics

There are always those times when we have to go back to step 1.

Sometimes it involves trying something over again because you got into a routine but fell out of step. Or sometimes you just have to remind yourself why you just walked into the room.

This happens to me quite often. Not just trying to remember why i walked into the room, but often having to go back to step 1. It's because i got myself into a routine. And routines can be bad.

One day i was thinking. Yeah, i was actually thinking. Thinking about being Christlike. i've thought about the concept before and have many times tried (and often failed) to be Christlike. So there i was, thinking about being Christlike. And then the one thought that stopped me in my tracks (my thought tracks) was this:

Why be Christlike?

my mind became blank. Dull. Numb. i just couldn't think...

and i thought what a horrible Christian i must be if i don't know the answer.

i'm the kind of person that likes to know things beyond the shadow of a doubt. It unnerved me that i didn't know the answer and i'm glad it did.

Later that day, God relieved the anxiety in my heart and showed me the answer. It felt like a small candle silently illuminating the dark chambers inside my head.

The answer is found in Colossians 2 and Ephesians 5. Go ahead and read it and then i'll discuss the beautiful revelation of this passage....




still reading?.....





i'll give you more time....




last verse?





......

ok. Let me highlight some verses that eliminated my cluelessness.
Verses 5&6:

"For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

and verse 7...

"rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

verses 9&10:

"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."

Ephesians 5:1-2:
"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."

Colossians 2, verses 11-14. i'll paraphrase.

Only by being found in Christ are we clean. We were buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him. We died to sin and arose to holiness. God raised Christ from the dead and God raised US from the dead. We were once dead in our sins, we were once unclean, but NOW we are made alive TOGETHER with Christ...who has forgiven us all our sin.

Christians don't try to be Christlike...Christians follow Christ. He is our Salvation and in Him we are complete. Christlikeness blossoms in us when we are devoting ourselves to Him.


Why should i be Christlike? Because i love Christ.