"That Day… This Day"
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6).
That which occurred when first we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ must continue to occur as we seek to live worthily of "the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). "As ye have therefore received… so walk." This directs our attention to remember that which happened in our new birth, namely, we trusted our Savior to be and do for us that which we could not be and do for ourselves. We lay aside our human attempts to make ourselves into something in order to embrace the truth of grace and become "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Ephesians 2:10). We sought a foundation for life in the Lord Jesus - "rooted and built up in Him." We then set forth upon that strong and secure footing to "walk in Him."
Such grace received by faith beckons us to live accordingly in this day. Christ's "I am" and "I can" unites with our "I am not" and "I cannot" to fulfill God's purposes of the Divine enlivening and empowering the human. "We have this Treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us" (II Corinthians 4:7). As in our new birth, the path of this day offers us grace in Christ to live beyond our human comprehension and capability. "We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead" (II Corinthians 1:9). This involves everything in our lives, from the obviously spiritual to those matters that seem earthly, but which call us no less to seek God's guidance and enabling. "Unto the pure, all things are pure" (Titus 1:15).
Born again believers in the Lord Jesus can live this day in the light of that day, that is, the day when we trusted the Lord Jesus and lay aside the delusion we could successfully navigate the course of our own lives. We cannot. But He can. We must "live through Him" no less than we required our Savior for salvation and its gift of newness of life (I John 4:9). The Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul unite to provide the conclusion of our consideration, that is, of grace offered, grace received by faith, and grace leading to a life - His life - revealed in us…
"Without Me, ye can do nothing."
(John 15:5)
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
(Philippians 4:13)
Weekly Memory Verse
I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember Thy wonders of old.
(Psalm 77:11)
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