Changed to Bring Change

Greetings Dear Reader,

We sing a song at church that seems to carry into everything for me. Many times I have been in a discussion about what evidences that one is following Christ. I used to have a list of answers. I used to think that it could be quantified and measured. I am sure that God can do both but it is beyond my grasp.

I spent many years thinking and advising that if we keep a laundry list of Christ following activities and do them with all our heart that we are following correctly. What I am discovering and working hard to apply is that we cannot be sure that anything works without leading with the heart. The heart must seek Christ totally and then the change will follow.

If I do anything; eat, rest, play, or work, I must be doing for the purpose of following Christ. It is that simple and it is that complex. The Gospel of Christ must change me. If it does not then I cannot be sure that I am following. I have habits that I must abandon. I have weaknesses that I must abhor. I have places what I must conform to the love and grace of the Gospel.

The purpose of this is twofold. The primary is my own wellbeing. I am better for each thing I shed for the sake of Christ. I will be healthier, at peace, and able to absorb the ills of life if I am allowing Christ to mold me to his likeness. The second, as important but undoable without the first is that I am changed for the purpose of bringing change. God’s redemption project is designed to work through the redeemed.

It is not enough to simply adopt the name of Christ and enjoy a quiet private faith. I am changed for the purpose of evidencing that change to others. I am to become a conduit through which Christ can draw others and in turn work redemptive change in them. Everything Christ gives to me is completely mine and is mine to pass on. Everything I do that prevents the latter weakens my ownership of the former. How can I have confidence in a faith I do not share and practice? How can I show others a path I will not walk?

If the Gospel does not change me then I cannot see it changing others through my example. I have been redeemed for the purpose of my reclamation and the redemption of others. The Gospel must change or it is not the Gospel.

I have been blessed – now I want to be a blessing
I have been loved – now I want to bring love
I’ve been invited – I want to share the invitation
I have been changed – to bring change, to bring change – Aaron Niequist

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."