To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. Colossians 1:29
“We have to remind ourselves that we are often not right. We fail, and it is always good to learn from our failures—to be ready to confess and willing to go beyond what is necessary in doing so. The Lord wants this. Why? “That ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:45). The question is one of practical sonship. True, God has “foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5), but we make the mistake of thinking that we have already “come of age” —that we are already mature sons.
The Sermon on the Mount teaches us that the children attain to the responsibility of sons in the measure in which they manifest kinship of spirit and of attitude with their Father. We are called to be “perfect” in love, showing forth His
grace. So Paul also writes, “Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1–2). We are faced with a challenge. Matthew 5 sets a standard that we may well feel is impossibly high, and Paul in this section of Ephesians endorses it.
The trouble is that we just do not find in ourselves by nature the means to attain to that standard—to walk “as becometh saints” (Ephesians 5:3). Where then lies the answer to our problem of God’s exacting demands? The secret is, in the words of Paul, “the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20). In a parallel passage (Colossians 1:29) he says: “I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”We are back again in the first section of Ephesians. What is the secret strength of the Christian life? From where does it derive its power?
Let me give you the answer in a sentence: The Christian’s secret is his rest in Christ. His power derives from his God-given position. All who sit can walk, for in the thought of God, the one follows the other spontaneously. We sit forever with Christ that we may walk continuously before men. Forsake for a moment our place of rest in Him, and immediately we are tripped, and our testimony in the world is marred. But abide in Christ, and our position there ensures the power to walk worthy of Him here.”
Watchman Nee or Ni Tuosheng (1903-1972) in Sit, Walk, Stand (Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 1977) 22.
When this posts, I will be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. The most common comment I hear from people related to my work travel is that they hope I get some rest when I get home.
Every time I hear that I want to share thoughts like those in today’s post remembering that all generosity finds its source in Him.
Our God-given position reveals the secret to living the Christian life. We find everything we need not by ceasing travel but by resting in Christ.
In that light, if you want to position yourself for greater generosity, don’t focus so much on making more money, focus on resting more in Christ.
If you want to be perfect, stay humble, strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works within you, and remember these words today.
“Children attain to the responsibility of sons in the measure in which they manifest kinship of spirit and of attitude with their Father.”
In plain terms, you will only grow in generosity (or any other aspect of the faith) to the extent in which you surrender and engage with the work of the Holy Spirit.
If that seems too lofty for you, perhaps slow down and read it again. You’ve got this. God’s got you.