Meditations

By Pastor Jim Brown

Heartland Community Church

La Porte City

“Living with Anticipation”

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

~ Romans 12:10

We celebrated Easter just a few weeks ago. The messages of Easter are so powerful that they attract the attention of both believers and unbelievers. Sadly, when resurrection Sunday comes to an end, too many settle back into ‘life as usual.’ We expect unbelievers to do that but not God’s people. They need to put to use what Jesus has just given them: victory over sin; victory over death; and the power to live a victorious life.

Jesus came to serve and not to be served and He commands that His disciples follow Him. He prepared the way for us by removing the bondage of sin. Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross defeated sin. We now have a choice. We can continue to serve our sinful nature or become a new creation by putting faith in Jesus. The new creation is the result of a spiritual rebirth as Jesus’ Spirit comes to live within each believer. With His Spirit, we can live as He lived, as a servant to the needs of others.

The power to live as Jesus lived is an Easter lesson that is often overlooked. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for sin against God because, as a human, He lived in perfect obedience to God’s Will. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, we did not have the power to live in obedience to God’s Will but through faith in Christ, we have it!

What does that mean for us? As I mentioned, with victory over sin and death, we can live a victorious life, the kind that brings glory to God. We can devote ourselves to each other out of love, honoring one another above ourselves. We can walk in newness of life, a life of service that lets others see Jesus in us. We can truly make a difference in our area, our county, our state, our country, and our world by serving the needs of people around us. The power that He gives us can re-shape us to be others-centered, not self-centered.

Living according to God’s Will brings excitement and anticipation to our lives. Imagine waking up each day with expectation and anticipation of what God has in store for us. God so loved the world that He gave. Do we love Him enough to love His world and do the same…give ourselves?