Written by His Grace,
Kevin K. O’Connor
Main thought: to
examine the goal of our existence
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have
not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Romans 2 14(Indeed,
when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the
law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15since
they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even
defending them.) 16This will take place on the day when God will
judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
Can you imagine missing Heaven because
we’ve become so consumed with what Christ spoke that we missed Who He Was? In the day that the Lord walked the earth we
had experts of the Law of God and we have them today as well. I feel that God’s
heart is aching for fellowship with us as we clothe our hearts and our minds
with His Word and leave off fellowshipping with Him. No wonder God’s anger will
be unleashed at our so-called experts of the Law of God.
We get so puffed up within our works of
righteousness such as worshipping on a certain day, being baptized in a certain
way, eating certain foods, giving of our finances, teaching the Word of God,
Praying, witnessing, that before you know it, our love is no longer for Him,
but it’s for our works for Him. We need
to stop pointing people to the works and words of Christ and start pointing
them to Him. The works and words of Christ are like beams of light that flow
out from Who He Is. To focus on those beams of light as radiant as they are, is
to miss the person of Christ Himself. The greatest place that anyone can have
is being lost in Him. Not the things of Him, but Him! The works and words of
Christ do bring us wisdom and joy as they are lived throughout our lives but
there is a higher plane of experience that God’s heart desires for every human
being and that is a living, loving, passionate walk with Him. Each beam of
Christ when exercised within our own lives does bring joy, but there is a place
where those same beams of Light and Life can flow from us when our focus is on
Him and not them.
The greatest riches of heaven will be for
those whose greatest desire is to know Him, not know his riches. I Corinthians
13 is probably one of my favorite chapters of His Word. I feel this chapter
reflects the heart of the Father more than many volumes of books of what God
desires of us. Not our knowledge, our works, our efforts, but our love. Is it
any wonder than that He says what He does in Romans 2:14&15? Romans
2 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature
things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do
not have the law, 15since they show that the requirements of the law
are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their
thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) How is that those who have not the
law actually do by nature the things in the law?,
because they have grown to love the fulfillment of the law, Christ Himself.
Christ is the fulfillment of the law.
Instead of becoming experts of lifting up
Christ, we’ve become experts at teaching about all the beams of light that flow
out of Christ. I have a feeling that some of the poorest people in glory will
be those rich in their knowledge of “the Word of God” while those with little
schooling in the “Word” will actually know the Word of God better. Those who
have spent time with Christ from their hearts and not just their minds will be
the richest people in glory. And the neat thing is that everyone has the same
opportunity to enter into this walk of relationship with Him. Just as our
relationships here need to be tended with quality time, so does our
relationship with Him. Just our relationships here tend to fall into ruts of
routine rather than into paths of continual growth, expectation, and joy, so
too we need to be careful of our Heavenly relationship with Christ.
The longer we walk a path, the more we
tend to let our guard down. Or, we begin to entertain ourselves by teaching
about the methods of walking in the path of Life instead of teaching the path
itself. Christ is that path;
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
In
other words, He is the Way of True Life! How God’s heart must ache for those
coming off of the streets into churches on Sunday mornings because they’re
hungering for the Living Way and instead hear from the pulpits how people can
fine-tune their Christian appearance. Oh, that the body of Christ will make
Jesus their passion! So that the lifestyle of Christ will begin to flow from
our lives, not because we’re teaching about them, but about Him! When our Lord
spoke the following words in
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
(Whole Chapter: In
context: )
It was
not only prophetic of His death but also of what He will do when we lift Him up
within our hearts.
So, how de become greater witnesses for
Christ? Is it studying many books on how to witness or is it learning to love
Him more passionately? Is it learning how to give 10% of our income or is it
learning how to love Him more sincerely? If we would spend more time of lifting
up Christ within our own hearts and from our pulpits we wouldn’t have to preach
on tithing or witnessing or eating certain foods or worshipping on certain
days. God said He would draw men unto Himself, what we must do is learn how to
lift Him up within our lives!
Heavenly Father, ever teach us how to lift
up Your Son within our Lives and leave the transforming work that will
naturally follow in Your hands. In Jesus Eternally, Glorious Name, Amen.
To return to the
Main Page please select the following link, The
O'Connors/Williamsons Main Home Page
To return to the
Food for Thought link, please select the following link, Food
for Thought
If you have comments
or suggestions email me at rubornagain2@outlook.com