BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 32, Mark 3, Est 8, Romans 3
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease
Yesterday
we learnt that to become a new creature i.e. born again, Christ must
increase in our lives and we must decrease. The desire to feed the flesh
must reduce and the desire to feed our spirit must increase. Today we
will look at another two areas where Christ needs to increase and we
decrease. Christ must increase is in our conduct. There is a way true
believers conduct themselves. Philippians 1:27 says only let your
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I can
and see you, or else be absent ,I may hear of your affairs, that ye
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith
of the gospel. Believers conduct themselves as if Christ is watching at
all times. This was how the first disciples conducted themselves. They
conducted themselves in such way that people in Antioch began to call
them Christ-like i.e. Christian. Christ so much increased in their lives
that all their achievements became invisible. When people see us, what
do they see? Our degrees, business success or the signs and wonders the
Lord had wrought through our hands or Jesus Himself. For a student to
succeed in the medical profession he must decrease and the doctor in him
must increase. The cool, calm, caring, meticulous, collected part of
him must increase and the rough, untidy, un –serious, lazy part must
decrease. This is what the medical school strives at. The law school
ensures that the shy, timid, subservient part of the student decreases
and the bold, aggressive, argumentative side of the student increases.
Unless this part of the student increases, he will struggle in the legal
profession. For Christ to become visible in our lives, the part of us
that loves to show off must decrease. The part of us that submits to
authority both at work and church must increase; even at home. As a wife
you might be the breadwinner but for Christ to increase you must submit
to your husband –head. As a husband for Christ to increase you must
love your wife to the extent of laying your life for her if need be,
Ephesians 5:25. Not only that you must also serve as Christ did. Matthew
20:28 says Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give
his life as ransom for many.
Another area where
Christ must increase is in how we spend our time. No serious medical
student spends his or her time in the club partying. Any law student who
means business will spend his or her time in the library reading.
Christ will not increase in our lives if we continue to miss Sunday
school or mid-week service or night vigil. When you miss Sunday school
you become an uneducated Christian. Not only that you read the bible and
miss a lot of informations. Many of us do not even know that Abram used
to worship fire before the Lord called him in Genesis 12:1-3. I learnt
this from Sunday school. It was during one of our mid week services, i
learnt the factors that leads to a turning point in one’s life. Point 1-
what you heard; point 2 – your response to what you heard and point 3-
the outcome you experience. I will not go further into this but there
are other life changing messages you are missing by not attending Sunday
school or weekly services.
PRAYER POINT: Father,
help me to become an ambassador of Christ. Also help me to stop missing
services that will change my lives.
