ON HOW TO BE AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST, Part 2

 

 

To be the USA ambassador to the UN is edifying. However, if we do not faithfully represent the position of the USA, we will be out of a job. We have been called to even a more dignified position – to be the ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Faithfulness requires us to put Jesus’ will and Word before all else to fulfill our calling:

·       “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37–39)

 

This is our reasonable service, because He has given His life for us that we might live eternally with Him:

 

·       I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

 

Don’t despair when you find that you fail to put Jesus first in your life. For all of us, it is a continual battle:

·       For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:15, 18-19)

 

Do not be dismayed by this struggle, which is needful for all His children. We must continually learn that we cannot trust in ourselves but in God alone:

·       For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8–10; Hebrews 12:11)

 

We first must be humbled before our Lord will exalt us. We need this struggle. A man had seen a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. Compassionately, he intervened but the butterfly died. He later learned that the butterfly required this struggle to develop its wings.

 

We wonder why our Lord doesn’t show us more compassion. However, we too need the struggle to develop Christlike-ness. I too had to be humbled to learn that everything good comes from Him. I now can thank God for this struggle because He has revealed to me my tendency towards pride. Had He blessed me without first humbling me, I would have thought that the blessings came to me because I was more deserving than others. I had to first learn that all good things come from Him and not from me:

·       Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

 

Well, what then can we do to put Christ as #1 in our lives, in view of the obstacles. Along with prayer, Bible study, and repentance, simply decide to continue to put Him first, despite your many failures. If that commitment is present, He will do the rest:

·       So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:17–20)

 

If we commit to serve the Lord but fail in its implementation, it’s no longer we who are failing, but the power of sin that still resides within us. God therefore cares more about our heart, what we decide in the center of our being, than about our performance. Therefore, David commissioned his son Solomon:

·       “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)

 

Our inmost intentions and commitments are central. Therefore, King David had prayed:

 

·       “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24)

 

Let this also be our prayer!