Saturday, February 19, 2011
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
WHAT GOD PLEASES IN YOU! -- HIS LIFE (Part Two)
In India many of the pastors we work with are poor people. They do not have the trinkets and the wealth and the entertainment which we have. And they are not therefore distracted; they are not blinded to the real destitution of their life. They know exactly who and what they are, and they therefore rejoice exceedingly to receive the grace and riches that God offers in Christ. And when they go out to preach, they do it as men full of joy for this message they have.
One man characterized American pastors as those who preach as if they only half believe. They say what they are supposed to believe instead of what they rejoice in. In India the men believe, rejoice and that joy fills their speaking. What does Paul say? " ... as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God."
This is what God pleases in and for us. When we recognize what a wonderful gift it is we have been given and when we rejoice in that gift, that life of Christ pours out, pleading with others to receive this gift for themselves as well.
As an unmarried man, I often run into people who seem to believe it their personal responsibility to make sure that I get married. Why? Because they know what a wonderful blessing marriage is and are eager that I should receive this blessing as well. If people are so filled with joy for marriage, a gift which we mutilate and ruin with our sins on a daily basis, how much more shouldn't we be eager to press upon people the beauty and joy of the Life of God's son which He pleases to give to us?
