Jesus died for you; live for Him

One of my favorite verses of Scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:15; "And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."  That is really a great mission statement or life verse.  Here are some suggestions of ways to obey this verse and live for Jesus:

1. Serve Him with your creativity.  How's your creative genius?  I think churches need more of it.  I am not talking about an in-house whiz-kid who knows more than anybody else--not that kind of genius.  I am talking about thoughtful, energetic effort--inspiration that communicates that we are not doing church or life by rote.  People are capable of impressive creativity but often we keep coloring inside the lines when it might really bless God for us to be a little more bold and open our eyes to new possibilities as we serve Him.  Is it really necessary to keep doing the same tired old things with little if any variation?  I don't think so--think about the great variety that God Himself poured into His creation.  Why do we feel the need to be so predictable?  Why not occasionally brainstorm about ways to breathe fresh life into our worship and service to God?  I think it would please and honor the Lord and we might be really pleased with the outcome too (most of us anyway).

2. Serve Him with your holiness.  I don't mean your holier-than-thou-ness; nobody likes that.  I mean what John Piper described as a "God-ward life."  Personal holiness is not perfection.  I wish I could be perfect, but I can't; but I can be holy.  I can walk with God.  I can cultivate personal practices that keep me in His orbit.  Practices like prayer, confession of sin, meditating on His Word, worship, service, fasting, and simplicity.  This is one of the key needs in our world today.  One of the reasons the church's influence has waned in our generation is because we are not "hungering and thirsting for righteousness" (Matthew 5:6).  I believe that our influence (in the things God cares about) is directly proportional to our personal and corporate holiness (which are interrelated). 

3. Serve Him with your availability.  In Matthew 21:28-31 (NLT) we find this: “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’  The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway.  Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.  “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do."  Wow!  That is pretty harsh.  Jesus didn't make many friends among the religious people with that comment.  What is His point?  Just this: authentic discipleship eventually moves our feet in the direction of the things God cares about.  Just talking about spiritual things, or having a religious veneer is not impressive to God--Biblical faith has tangible evidence (James 1:22).

Jesus died for you; live for Him!

Bobby Braswell, Jr.

*The photo is from Lampa, Peru with Pastor Juan