“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“This is not about you,” the Holy Spirit told me one day as I thought somewhat sullenly about somewhere He had placed me that didn’t feel too welcoming, not too friendly, not altogether kind. Though I was thankful for the Lord’s provision for me there, and humbled by His calling me there, or anywhere at all, to be perfectly frank, I was a little sad, a little disappointed, and wondered some, why? Couldn’t He have put me somewhere different? Called me somewhere else?
The Lord had more to say. He always does, doesn’t He? In the grand scheme of things anyway.
“This is about me,” He continued. “Lay down your life.”
Wow. He couldn’t have said it any better. Of course not. He is God! He is Lord! He knows everything! I am in His hands! His Word, and words to our individual hearts, are always powerful. They can also be mightily convicting, and intensely life-changing, transforming, and so exceedingly needed.
And there it was. God’s message, and reminder, to me. And perhaps also to you.
I am a follower of Christ. As such, I belong to Him. He laid down His life for me. He died for my sins. God forgave me and promised me an everlasting relationship with Himself because Christ paid my sin penalty for me, and I have repented and turned my life over to Jesus, fully devoting myself to Him, so that my faith is not intellectual, but is real, is real with the fruit of repentance, with a life submitted to Christ. So now it’s my turn. To lay down my life. Because my life is Christ’s now. I belong to Him. And my life is to be laid down for others. And it’s no longer about me.
Just like the Lord reminded me that day. The Lord hadn’t led me to that place for myself, but for Himself, and for others. And though most assuredly He was blessing me while I was in that place, as He blesses me all the time and is in fact Himself my greatest blessing along with the forever relationship with Himself He has given me, the truth was that my being there wasn’t for me. It was for the Lord. And for those the Lord wanted me to meet, so through me the Lord could reach them with His love, with His Gospel message, with any way in which He wanted to use me to reach others to build His Kingdom of followers and strengthen and encourage those already in His Kingdom.
We live in a me-centered world, and a me-centered culture. But following Christ isn’t about me, me, me. Nor is it about you, you, you. It’s about Him, Him, Him. The glorious Lord! As hard as it is to the human flesh for us to deny ourselves, to die to self, to say no to the lusts of our flesh, to turn away from our sins, to lay down our hearts and lives for Christ and others, there is an indescribable joy, and excitement, about being used by God, and about being drawn ever closer to Him as He uses us to bring glory to His name, and about living a life of Kingdom purpose, of purpose for the King, of living for Christ, of being His, forevermore!