April 9

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” —PSALM 139:13-14

Many people have someone in their lives they secretly envy; a teacher, a friend, an older sibling; someone who always seems to have it together, and excels in everything they do. As hard as we try to be like them, it simply does not work. We are who we are and that is not going to change… “end of story” as some would say.

But actually it’s the beginning of a precious story the moment we see it from God’s perspective. Psalms 139:16 says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” We are not the teacher, the friend, the older sibling, but we are who God created us to be; each of us uniquely different and with a plan for our lives God had in mind long before we were born. We were not meant to be like anyone else. We were meant to be indwelt by Christ, which means becoming a Christian. 

We do not become Christians because we are born into a Christian family. No one can simply be named a Christian, or be baptized into being a Christian, or hang around with Christians to become a Christian. We can attend church, adopt the Christian ethic, know all the doctrine, and become totally Christianized without being evangelized. Being evangelized is experiencing the indwelling life of Christ to such an extent we are motivated to pass that experience on. It’s knowing we are not fearfully and wonderfully made without divine purpose.

The only way divine purpose becomes a reality in our lives is on the basis of a personal meeting with Jesus Christ in which I become a Christian. It’s coming to Him with empty hands, confessing our sin, receiving forgiveness and seeking the best God has to give us. It’s acknowledging we do not have what it takes, and allowing Jesus the control of our lives. Being a Christian is to experience the very life of Christ in our souls, and it does not get more precious than that, because He is the source of life itself. 

As we give Christ freedom to work in our lives, the Holy Spirit takes us to His Word, and we are no longer opening our Bibles for an inspirational pick me up. We are given a hunger and thirst to know Christ more and to fellowship with Him. It’s an act of worship, in which Christ is speaking to us and our hearts are responding. Intimate communion with Jesus is what sets us free, and makes us excited to be Christians.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for indwelling my life and giving me all the wonderful blessings that are found in You. May I always seek to pass the Gospel on. 

TO REFLECT UPON: Do I hunger and thirst to know more of Christ?