Philippians 3 (The Message)
7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung.
We have a Basset Hound named "Copper". We rescued him a few years back when our Dalmatian died. We also rescued her. When we got Copper, he was advertised as a pure bred Basset but had no papers to prove it. Trust me, he is a Basset Hound. His ears and long low body are the first give away that he is a Basset Hound. But his actions speak louder than any papers could. Here is a typical day for Copper. We let him out of his Kennel at about 6:30am. The first thing he does is sprint to his dog dish to see if it's full. When he realizes it's not, he prances and pounces around like a cat until we fill it. He finishes his food in exactly 30 seconds. He then goes outside to "do his business". He might chase a rabbit or just sniff the remnants. He comes in and plays with his bone or his toys for about 5 minutes. After this "exhausting" morning ritual, he is done for the day. He sleeps the rest of the day until we repeat the ritual at about 3pm. I don't need any papers to show me he's truly a Basset Hound.
As Christians, as true followers of Christ, we don't need to show our credentials. We don't need to show our certificate of baptism, our church membership, or a list of great accomplishments to show we are believers. I think the more we try to demonstrate our Righteousness, the more we prove we're not. We can't take credit for any of the great things that have occurred in our lives. We can't take credit for any accomplishments we have. Christ is the only one who deserves any credit. We should be able to trash our credentials and let Christ who is living in us, to be our spokesperson. If we're going to acknowledge anything, let's acknowledge it is only by the Grace of God, that we are saved!
We have a Basset Hound named "Copper". We rescued him a few years back when our Dalmatian died. We also rescued her. When we got Copper, he was advertised as a pure bred Basset but had no papers to prove it. Trust me, he is a Basset Hound. His ears and long low body are the first give away that he is a Basset Hound. But his actions speak louder than any papers could. Here is a typical day for Copper. We let him out of his Kennel at about 6:30am. The first thing he does is sprint to his dog dish to see if it's full. When he realizes it's not, he prances and pounces around like a cat until we fill it. He finishes his food in exactly 30 seconds. He then goes outside to "do his business". He might chase a rabbit or just sniff the remnants. He comes in and plays with his bone or his toys for about 5 minutes. After this "exhausting" morning ritual, he is done for the day. He sleeps the rest of the day until we repeat the ritual at about 3pm. I don't need any papers to show me he's truly a Basset Hound.
As Christians, as true followers of Christ, we don't need to show our credentials. We don't need to show our certificate of baptism, our church membership, or a list of great accomplishments to show we are believers. I think the more we try to demonstrate our Righteousness, the more we prove we're not. We can't take credit for any of the great things that have occurred in our lives. We can't take credit for any accomplishments we have. Christ is the only one who deserves any credit. We should be able to trash our credentials and let Christ who is living in us, to be our spokesperson. If we're going to acknowledge anything, let's acknowledge it is only by the Grace of God, that we are saved!
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