As we look into the responsibility we have for one another and those outside the church (Galatians 6:10), it is easy to lose focus. For me, loss of focus happens when the “to do list” becomes the center of my attention. As always, one thing leads to another. When I begin to lose focus, I tend to deviate from the path in which I am called to walk. What is that path? 1st John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” So, I think it can be helpful to remind ourselves of the reason for doing the things we are called to do: for it is much more than a to do list.
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge this: that if One died for all, then all died … 2nd Corinthians 5:14
This text I tend to gravitate towards when I struggle for reasons to continue forward in service to others. When doubts arise (they have and they will) and frustration seeks to grab hold of me, I need to faithfully look to the sufficient work of Christ: a work that is the greatest expression of love that anyone could encounter. Paul says that this love “compels us.” The Greek word means to urge, impel. The ETRV translates this Greek word in 2nd Corinthians 5:14 as “controls.” The love of Christ is the source of my Christian activity, or at least it supposed to be.
… 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. 2nd Corinthians 5:15
My focus turns to the cross, knowing that Christ “died for all.” “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). He died for me, an ungodly man, with the purpose to not only redeem me, but also “that those who live should live no longer for themselves.” Paul said it this way in Galatians 2:20, “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.” Life is no longer about me, but about Him: And not just Him, but also His body, the church, the very thing He purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28). One commentator says, “The way one can live for him who died and was raised is to live to build up the church, which is his body.” Still another writes, “The outcome of Christian self-denial is a Christ-centered life filled with concern for others.”
Satan and this world continuously seeks to draw our attention (my attention) to the cares of this world and away from Christ and His church. What brings everything back into focus is the sufficient work of Christ on the cross. He is the reason for everything we do: first for His church and also for this lost and dying world.
Dennis
