Obedience to God will always lead to a strong desire for his righteousness. The light and peace that is brought into our lives will stay with us into eternity. When we obey God there is a consecration that effects our whole way of living and we will be occupied with an unbelievable purpose. Until a person walks with God they have no idea about the purpose of life. People of this world fill their lives with things that will all be burned up someday and they shall spend eternity possessing nothing.
We know that our job is to imitate Jesus so that our life will please God. Paul's statement about living in the Spirit has manifest meaning, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such things there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh. (Gal 5:24) Notice that the flesh must be crucified if we are going to produce good fruit.
It is possible to live a beautiful life of holiness and enjoy that life because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. There is sometimes a negative response from the people around you when this change in your life is observed. Jesus addressed this problem when He prayed for his disciples, these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them they word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world. (John 17:14) When the world does not like us, it is still feasible to have the joy of the Lord in our life every day. Believers must not say that living a holy life is too difficult because Jesus promised to help us, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6) Our faith will give us access to the things God has for us. The new life we live is totally different from a life in this world. Paul said it this way, they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Rom 8:5) We must trust our Lord to give us a holy life just as we trust Him for our salvation.
People in the world talk about obtaining a new lifestyle in order to revitalize themselves. That is certainly possible when a person accepts the holy life of Jesus, they not only enjoy a new life here but gain life forever. It is not possible to inform a new Christian what their life will look like because each person has an individual path to follow. There are some things Christians all have in common and we should attempt to comfort one another any way possible.
When we reach Heaven some day, there is a place of honor waiting for us. Most of us don't have any idea what a place of honor feels like but because we reflect God's glory here on earth, honor will be ours in eternity. We know that every good thing God has for us will last forever and this makes our holy life more valuable than we can imagine. The peace we receive as we walk with God is another part of this new life that has great worth. This gift of peace enables us to enjoy life here on earth under all conditions and it will carry over into eternity. In the book of Revelation we read about our new home town with streets of gold and this attests to the beauty we will enjoy. In addition to peace, beauty and honor we will have millions of friends who will never cause us any pain, but will always have our best interest at heart.
Our set apart life is the beginning of something beautiful that will take us into the next world and we will be prepared to dwell with God in eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment