July 31 - 2 Corinthians 3: Open to God

I think about what I was like before I knew Christ, and it makes me sad. I was so driven to prove myself, to not have to depend on anyone else, and to be insulated from pain and trouble. It was a losing battle, but I didn't know it. I just kept trying harder, baffled that life didn't seem to be working out as I'd planned.

Clearly, my experience lines up with the truth of Scripture. Paul contrasts the old life in the flesh with the new life in Christ - Death vs. Living Spirit (3:7-8), Condemnation vs. Affirmation - and calls the old life "bankrupt" (3:15). It can never deliver what we hope it will. It always disappoints.

But life in Christ has been more than I ever imagined it could be. Once the veil was lifted, everything was different; not necessarily easier or uncomplicated, but radically different in every way possible.

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are - face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. (3:16-18)

I love this idea of God transforming me as I allow His Spirit to fill me and His life to be lived through mine.

"Change is possible. We don't have to remain as we are. But change isn't automatic. And it isn't something inherent in us. It has a cause. Change is rooted in a relationship with Jesus Christ. In him, God becomes open, personal, and accessible to us." Eugene Peterson, Conversations, pg. 1803 

"The most important rule for us is to concentrate on keeping our lives open to God. Let everything else including work, clothes, and food be set aside. The busyness of things obscures our concentration on God. We must maintain a position of beholding Him, keeping our lives spiritual through and through. Let other things come and go as they will; let other people criticize us as they will; but never allow anything to obscure the life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Never let a hurried lifestyle disturb the relationship of abiding in Him. This is an easy thing to allow, but we must guard against it. The most difficult lesson of the Christian life is learning how to continue "beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord..." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Lord, I pray You'll continue to teach me how to keep my life open to You. I want You to change me by fully entering my life. I pray I will let go of busyness and my idol of control so You can do what You want in me. Thank You that You are good, trustworthy, and faithful, and thank You for loving me so completely.