I will Offer Up My Life

Colossians 3:1  So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3  for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5  Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6  On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7  These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8  But now you must get rid of all such things--anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10  and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11  In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all! 12  As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13  Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15  And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

There is a choice to be made: to choose to live for Christ, or to choose to live selfishly. The first asks a life that rejects the things that cripple human community; the second allows us to ignore everyone – to do nothing other than follow the narrow interests of our family and culture.

I choose to offer my life to something much bigger than my personal gratification. I choose to be renewed each day, each hour, each moment – as I outgrow my old self and put on the new self.

I will offer up my life in spirit and truth
Pouring out the oil of love, as my worship to you
In surrender I must give my every part
Lord, receive this sacrifice of a broken heart

 Matt Redman - I Will Offer Up My Life

Prayer:

Lord God, you who are the source of all truth, wisdom, justice and love. Save me from haste and confusion, from wrongful desire, and the net of evil. Through the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, enlighten, instruct and guide me all the day long. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.[1]  

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Crucial Choices

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 123.

This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.   

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[1] Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 123.