ESOCS Devotional 26 January 2021
TEXT: PHILIPPIANS 1:27-2:4
MEMORY VERSE: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ …” Philippians 1:27 NKJV
We have only one merit before God: The Lord Jesus Christ. We possess no merit of our own. His gospel is the message of reconciliation and sanctification that God has given to us for our spiritual rebirth. God’s will for us is that our entire life should reflect the good news of the kingdom of God. Our life should be a living testimony of the gospel. Christianity should be found in our hearts, and then in our life in practical terms. In other words, as a Christian walks on the street, heaven should be able to point at him or her and say happily, “That is Christianity walking.” Therefore, we should understand that enormous responsibility is laid on us to grow in the word and things of God until we are like Jesus in every aspect of our life and conduct. That is when we would qualify to be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
We should be mindful to ensure that we do not bring shame to the gospel by our lifestyle. People should not mock Christianity because of behaviour. Our life should glorify God, the gospel of His Son, and show that we appreciate His thoughts of our temporal and eternal wellbeing as demonstrated in the redemption plan. We should not be a mockery to Him, not in any way! In practical terms, we should give Him reason to beat His chest and roar to the world from heaven, and that we are His beloved children in whom He is well pleased (Matt. 3:17). That should be one of our goals, as we live daily.
The earliest Christians had a common identity wherever they were scattered during their persecution and dispersal after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. They endeavoured to ensure that there was sanctity in their conduct; that is, that their way of life reflected the gospel they
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preached; that they lived according to the details of the word of God; and that they were the human epistles of the written word of God. After learning of the lifestyle of the Christians at Corinth, Paul wrote to them and said, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:2-3 NKJV). Like them, we should be the living epistles of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our time!
In all, our desire should be to be worthy of the kingdom of God; and to be among the triumphant saints at the resurrection morning. There is no greater goal than this! We should concentrate all our heart, mind, might, energy, time, and life to achieve this purpose; for that is the summary of all efforts: to escape the fire of hell and enter the kingdom of God. It is a golden treasure we must fight to possess, and own eternally, too.
CHALLENGES
Can you boldly and truthfully say that you have a Christlike behaviour? Examine yourself.
PRAYER POINT
Lord, grant me the Spirit to live like Christ my Lord every day.
FURTHER READING: Genesis 4:1-10; Isaiah 37:21-38; Acts 6:1-7
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ESOCS Devotional 26 January 2021
