Galatians 2:19-21
What actually took place is this: I
tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it
didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man.
Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified
myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ.
My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear
righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer
driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is
not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
Is it
not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping,
peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal
and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate
God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by
rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
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.
In the early 1980s,
actor/comedian Billy Crystal created a recurring character on NBC’s
Saturday Night Live named Fernando. This was a parody of the real
performer, Fernando Lamas…and the catchphrase was, “You look
mahvelous!” It didn’t matter what anyone said or did, “Fernando” would
say, “But you look mahvelous!” That’s what’s wrong with a lot of us as
Christians…we’re so busy trying to “look mahvelous” that we have totally
forgotten about following and serving God.
I love how Paul says
that he quit being a “law man” so that he could be God’s man. Isn’t
that exactly how we should be looking at this? Shouldn’t we be more
focused on living the life of Christ rather than our own…doing the
things that Jesus taught us, like loving one another, keeping the peace
and getting along rather than insisting on our own way. Shouldn’t we be
striving to stay pure in heart and mind - hungering for the word of
God? What could happen if we lived our lives in such a way that others
saw Jesus in us…rather than someone who was trying to impress or create a
good image of themselves for the world?
We must ask ourselves…do
we want to look like true disciples of Christ…or do we merely care
about looking “mahvelous?” As Paul points out, the latter indicates the
opinion that there was no good reason for Christ’s death on the cross.
And I just don’t buy that…do you? Are you following the rules…of
society, the church, and your peers…or are you following God? How you
answer makes all the difference!
©2015 Debbie Robus
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