A Realistic Attitude On The Christian Life

"Today's Devotion" For March 12, 2005

Read: I Peter 4:1-6
Philippians 2:5-11

A REALISTIC ATTITUDE ON THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude..." (I Pet.4:1a)

Yesterday morning, as I was working out at the fitness center, I was watching a well-known TV evangelist talking about Christian living and claiming God's promises. Certainly that subject is something worthy of discussion, especially because we often forget God's promises to us. Unfortunately, when this preacher started talking about those promises two things stood out--God wants His children to have plenty of good things (wealth especially) and those who were a part of this man's ministry were being blessed through him. Such thinking is frustrating because, it seems to me, the emphasis is on things and people, rather than on God. I don't know about you, but I don't appreciate the attitude of many Christians who claim God wants His children to be wealthy and prosperous in material ways. Many such Christians will tell us that if we don't have great financial wealth and grand possessions, that we don't believe enough. There's a "name it, claim it" mentality that buys into the worldly idea (reminiscent of the Tower of Babel, Genesis 11) that "what the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve." Such thinking flies directly in the face of God's Word, and suggests a "Christian worldview" that sees "successful" Christians living as a "lifestyles of the rich and famous" existence.

As we listen to Peter's words, as the Spirit inspired them, such thinking about the Christian life is truly challenged. We know that because of humanity's sinfulness, our Lord Jesus Christ was belittled, hated, vilified, abused, falsely accused, and finally crucified while all the time innocent of everything of which He was accused. He Himself warns us that if He was treated in such a manner that those who follow Him as His disciples should expect no better treatment. There's no doubt that Peter and Paul, along with the rest of the Apostles, were no strangers to hardship, pain, suffering, and, finally, death because they followed Jesus. For them, life was no "bed of roses", and, as we note in Paul's case, he gave up what could have been a life of ease and celebrity as a Pharisee, to follow Jesus and be a "fisher of men" and an Apostle who regularly was jailed, beaten, harassed, and, ultimately, executed.

Certainly our purely human desire is to have a life of plenty, leisure, luxury, peace, tranquility...the list could go on and on. For some reason, we human beings seem to think that having "things" of great human value will solve all our problems. Yet, because of the power of Sin in the world, there's always someone who wants more than they have, and who seeks to take what others have for themselves. Crimes are committed every day because of such desires. Wars are fought because a ruler wants to control more territory, have more power, or gain more wealth (certainly there are other factors as well), or because there are people and nations who oppose such aspirations as being contrary to the welfare of others. Such human desires fly in the face of Jesus' own example portrayed in His suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus reminded His disciples in John 10 that He had come "that they might have life and have it to full"(v.10). Being in every respect, God, He humbled Himself and did not claim His rights as God, but instead took human flesh, suffered for us, and paid the price for Sin necessary to buy us back into a full relationship with our Father in heaven.

While living a life that seeks ease, sameness, and companionship with the world might be tempting, it only serves the flesh. It decays the spirit and takes us away from Jesus. Certainly we can say that God, according to His good will and pleasure, in keeping with what's good and right for each of us individuals, blesses us with the appropriate earthly wealth and possessions. Above all He gives us what we need to sustain our daily lives and live in the fullness of His love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. His promise is always that as His beloved and redeemed children in Jesus Christ, we will have everything we need, nothing more or less. The most important of those blessings from God is a restored relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior from Sin and the Lord of our lives. To have a realistic attitude on life as God's children is to live life knowing we are always in the palm of God's hand and that, as Jesus promised, He will never leave us or forsake us.

Prayer: Father, I thank You and praise Your holy name for sending Jesus to take away the curse of Sin, death, Satan, and the Law. Help me to avoid the temptation to believe that my life in Christ should be one of ease and material prosperity. Help me to see that the greatest wealth I have is the forgiveness of my sins in Jesus, the faith You have given me by Your Word and Spirit, and the privilege and opportunity to live for You each day, sharing Your love in Christ in even the most trying of circumstances. Help me to remember my hope and reward is eternal life with You. Hear me, Father, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.