Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Redeeming Christ
The
apostle Paul was very fond of athletic illustrations and used them often in his
letters. His readers as well were familiar with the Olympics that always
included foot races. It is important to note that Paul never uses the image of
the race to tell people how to be saved. He uses the illustration of the race
to inform Christians about how to live the Christian life. A contestant
in the Greek games had to be a citizen before he could compete in the races. We
do not run in order to be saved, but we run the race because we are
saved.
In
the races, each runner was to stay in his assigned lane, but some runners would
cut in on their competitors to try to get them off course. The word “hinder” is
an Olympic expression, and properly signifies coming across the course while a
person is running in it, in such a manner as to jostle, and throw him out of
the way. Paul asks, with emphasis, who could it have been that retarded them in
their Christian course.
The quickest way to destroy
the spirituality of a church, and to annihilate its influence, is to excite a
spirit of uncontrolled speech. Our speech can hinder or help; bless or
blight. The first thing some people do in the morning is to brush their
teeth and sharpen their tongue. The sins of the tongue are varied and
numerous: idle and injurious gossip, hurtful faultfinding, slander, lying,
destructive criticism, and fleshly boasting just to name a few.
To
overcome hindrance, we should learn to live under the influences of the Holy
Spirit; admit those influences fully into your hearts. Do not resist Him, but
yield to Him. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Yield to the control of the Holy
Spirit. So much work is done without our yielding to the Holy Spirit of God. So
much work for God is done through the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit of God.
Doing God’s work in the flesh boils down to depending on our influence,
personality, gifts, natural resources, education, and experience. God’s work
should be done under the direction of and in the power of the Holy Spirit. The
church is hindered when we operate without yielding to the Spirit of God and
depending on Him.
Once
we learn how to overcome hindrances, we will be closer to becoming fully
redeemed by Christ. This is a continuous process and we need to surround
ourselves with people who are always encouraging rather than discouraging us
all the time.
Prayer: Lord, please give us the wisdom
to understand the situations in our life, so that instead of hindering we can
help others to be redeemed by Christ….Amen
Thought for
the Day: We
should commend, attend, and defend the church, not hinder the church!
Wilson David, Seattle MTC.A