FOLLOW AFTER CHRIST

THE CHRISTIAN has not been saved to no purpose: there is a rich, royal appointment that Christ has for you.

That is the very reason He in love did all the things spelled out in the Bible for you: He took on flesh; He lived among us by the power of the Spirit;

He died the death of the Cross for us, who could not save ourselves in any other way; He rose from the dead; and now has ascended to His Father's throne, from where He inspects and intercedes for each one of us, that we might attain His likeness in our lives.

 I picture Christ as THE Cowboy, who has roped me as His calf, drawing me in daily through His patience and kind dealing with me by His Word. There seem to be three steps I can see in Phil 3:12 to Jesus' purpose:

1. Admit Christ's Control

We need to admit to ourselves that in receiving Christ, we have named Him as Lord of our lives (Romans 10:9). He has all power (Matthew 28:18), so we may as well admit that He is bigger than we are, and we are under His infinite leadership. Calm down, and turn round.

2. Adjust to Christ's compulsion

You know, it's a pretty wondrous thing: Jesus WANTS me to be with Him in the Word and prayer, and to be like Him in love and kindness. So instead of choking myself on the loop of the Spirit's lasso, I should just trace the line back to Jesus, Who is taking up the slack to draw me in, anyway.

3. Adhere to Christ's Calling

The closer we come to Christ, the nearer our lives are patterned after His image in us (2nd Corinthians 3:18). It's like Lay's potato chips--betcha can't eat just one. Once you begin to know Christ, not as Someone to wrestle with, but to nestle with, we can begin to see the world from His perspective and with His passion.

If we will do these things in response to the rope of hope, and don't let any person or circumstance push us back into fighting that lariat of His grace, we'll soon find ourselves putting our wet noses into His hand, and following at His heels to keep up with the One Who has singled us out of the herd for His own purpose. Amen, and amen.