15. Saints Alive!
15
Saints Alive!
For to me, to live is Christ.
Philippians 1:21
When I was a child, the combination of the Depression and three older siblings challenged me to use my imagination when I wanted to play. We had the basic toys, of course, but being the baby of the family, I was frequently last in line. I’m grateful for this, however, because I really had to use my imagination and I am still using it! My sister and I played “school,” complete with roll calls, assignments, tests, and grades. She also enjoyed playing “house” and “store,” but whenever she did, that was my signal to round up the boys in the neighborhood and get busy in a game of “cops and robbers” or “cowboys and Indians.”
Children play at life and benefit from it, but Christian adults can’t afford that luxury. Life is real, life is demanding, and life is serious; one day we will answer to the Lord for the way we used our time on earth. God put us here, not to play at life but to live! The foolish and the lazy may waste their lives, but not the dedicated Christian. American psychologist and philosopher William James wrote, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.” Substitute the word invest for spend and you have the Christian point of view. We are investing our lives in the kingdom of God! Is there any greater privilege than that?
As we have walked together through this book, we have examined several aspects of the Christian life. But the Christian life isn’t something we analyze and explain; it’s something we live and experience and share day by day. It’s a privilege to be a Christian believer. Each day that the Lord gives us is an opportunity to glorify Him as we minister to others. I trust that the truths I have shared have encouraged you to join Paul in saying, “For to me, to live is Christ.”
If you are hesitating in this matter of committing your life to serving Jesus Christ, where you are now or wherever He sends you, please prayerfully consider the following statements.
There Are No Unimportant People in God’s Family
You may think that you don’t qualify as a servant of the Lord, but the Lord thinks otherwise. Not every man is a Moses, a Gideon, a David, or a Paul, and not every woman is a Sarah, a Rachel, a Deborah, or a Mary. God addressed Gideon as “a mighty man of valor” before Gideon ever fought a battle (Judg. 6:12), and He told Simon he was a rock (Peter) before he began to follow Him (John 1:40–42). You are important to the Lord and He can equip you to be all that He wants you to be and to do all that He wants you to do.
There Are No Insignificant Places
Often in my conference ministry, I have been approached by people who open the conversation with, “I’m pastoring a small church”—and I interrupt them with, “Excuse me, there are no small churches and there are no big preachers. How can I help you?” Especially in the United States, believers are mired in the Book of Numbers and forget God’s question in Zechariah 4:10, “For who has despised the day of small things?” No matter what the statistics might be, every place is an important place if God’s people are serving faithfully and seeking to glorify Jesus Christ.
There Are No Insoluble Problems
God doesn’t call losers. Their unbelief might make them losers, but that wasn’t God’s original plan. Moses did his best to beg off, but the Lord made a mighty leader out of him. Gideon and Jeremiah had a list of reasons why they would fail, but they succeeded. All of us have handicaps of one kind or another, but the Lord can solve every problem and turn weakness into strength and seeming defeat into victory. Problem people in the church? Opposition from government officials? A desperate need for workers and finances? God has not changed since He told Peter to write “[cast] all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7); and Philippians 4:13 and 4:19 are still valid. Unbelief sees obstacles, but faith sees opportunities.
There Are No Alternatives
To try to negotiate the will of God means losing the best that God has planned for us, because He always gives His best to those who leave the choices with Him. The parable of the workers in the vineyard makes this very clear (Matt. 20:1–16). The workers who insisted on a contract were paid exactly what they asked for, while the workers who trusted the foreman received far more than they deserved. To attempt to negotiate the will of God means we think we know more than God knows, and it’s also an evidence of unbelief. Since God’s will comes from God’s loving heart (Ps. 33:11), we have nothing to fear. Let the Lord write the contract. Better yet, forget the contract and simply trust Him.
There Is No Greater Privilege
As ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we serve a gracious and generous King who never forsakes us and always provides for us. We have the Scriptures to guide us, the Holy Spirit to teach us and empower us, and the throne of grace available to us to meet our every need. We follow in the train of some of the most wonderful men and women who ever lived, and we help to meet the greatest need in a world that desperately needs forgiveness, peace, and the assurance of heaven. To carry the message of the gospel to a hopeless people is a privilege we don’t deserve and we dare not ignore.
We are saints alive! We have eternal life and all its privileges, and we can share the message of life with others. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).