1 Corinthians 5:17-20
Because of this decision we
don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at
the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We
certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and
what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start,
is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!
All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and
him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.
God
put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world
a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the
task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s
representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their
differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between
them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God;
he’s already a friend with you.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
As Greg and I waited with the
children for our lunch to be served at a local restaurant after church
on Sunday, I passed out some coloring sheets and opened a brand new box
of 24 crayons. The children eagerly went to work on their
“masterpieces”…thrilled to have fresh, bright new crayons to use. Only a
couple of Sundays earlier, I had given the children coloring sheets and
some old pieces of crayons from our crayon box at home, and they had
used them…but with far less enthusiasm.
It’s a funny thing how
something as seemingly ordinary as a fresh new box of crayons can make
such a difference. The mechanics of said crayons is the same…they still
transform the images on the paper with color and shading. But somehow,
using new crayons makes a difference. There is something about the
look, feel, and yes – even the smell – of a new box of crayons that just
transports us to our childhood and makes us happy little kids again!
As
born-again Christians, we are a lot like that box of new crayons.
We’re still the same person…we still look much the same, physically.
Our voice doesn’t change…we still walk with the same gait. But when the
blood of Jesus transforms us, there is something tangibly different
about our demeanor. We are altered spiritually…and that change affects
everything else. We “color” better…or we should!
There is no
grace, mercy and forgiveness in a box of new crayons…unless it is the
affection of a great-aunt for her nephew and niece - mixed with a ploy
to entice them to stay a little busier and happier while waiting for
Sunday lunch! But the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of salvation
through Jesus Christ changes us from our former sinful selves into His
Disciples…representatives who love others and extend these gifts to them
on His behalf.
So my question for you today is this…”How are you
‘coloring’?” Are you happily creating a “masterpiece” for God…using
the brilliant colors of love, grace, mercy and forgiveness? Do you
demonstrate these gifts as applied to your own life…and do you extend
them to others? Isn’t it time you did?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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