Day 12

“Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you’.” 

—GALATIANS 3:8

The great outworking of the gospel is in its impact on others around us. We know Christ only because others were the means of God reaching us. God has chosen to work this way, and has done so from the beginning. Abraham was set apart to ultimately be a blessing to the nations of the world. For that to be accomplished, God had to first work in him to make him the man he needed to be. That was neither quick nor easy, but involved a long process of leading, teaching, moulding, testing and correcting. So it will be for us. God has to work in us first what He will then work out through us.

When we are brought into relationship with Christ, we find ourselves in a new relationship with the world. We share God’s love for the world and we share His deliberate reaching into the world. But we do not reach down to the world from a pedestal of accomplishment or status. We reach the world through frailty and brokenness. Paul told the Philippians that Jesus, though in nature God, did not trade on His equality with God, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, becoming obedient even to death on a cross. The reason Paul wrote that was to say, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

We do not bless our world by shouting truth at them, but by identifying ourselves with them, and being among them in love as Jesus was among people in love. A deep work of conforming our mind and disposition to that of Jesus has to be done in each of our own lives. We must live humbly, carefully, lovingly, obediently, and this alone will penetrate the hearts and lives of other people. But we have to be recipients of love and humility before we can be transmitters of it to others.

Jesus said, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink and out of your heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We have to first come ourselves and drink, and drink deeply of the water of life, which Christ Himself is to us. Out of the fullness of our own hearts there will then flow a blessing to other people.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, for being my life, for living and working in me so that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me always humbled before You and drinking deeply from the living water that is your life poured out for us.

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I working out for the benefit of others what God has worked into my life?