Bible Devotion - 9/26/2021

September 27th, 2021

How do you live the Christian life?

That’s a great question, don’t you think? I’m sure that countless books have been written with that theme in mind. So let me give you the short answer to that question….

Believe it or not, the answer is YOU don't!

There have been a countless number of people who have become Christians in the last 2,000 years. But only one person has ever lived the Christian life, and that was Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am going to make an amazing statement, but I believe it is true.

The average Christian knows far more about how to BECOME a Christian than how to BE a Christian.

The average Christian will say, "I'm trying to live the Christian life the best way I know how." When a Christian makes that statement, I can automatically tell them they're probably not doing a very good job of it.

I heard of a man who was walking by a seaside cliff in the darkness. He thought he knew the path, but the path evidently had fallen away by erosion, and he stepped over the cliff into the darkness. As he was falling, he found an overhanging limb; he grabbed hold of it and he was dangling there with his feet in midair.

He began to scream at the top of his voice for help, but no one could hear him. His hands began to get weak, his palms clammy, his fingers began to ache. He said to himself, "I've just got to hold on; I've got to hold on; I can't fall."

Beneath him you could hear the roaring waves and he could see in his mind the jagged rocks below, but finally his strength was gone. His fingers relaxed their grip; he slipped and he fell three inches to a solid rock ledge that had been beneath his feet the entire time.

There are so many Christians who know they need to "go out and whip the world," but they're exhausted from trying so hard and getting continually beaten up. The whole time not realizing the solution lies right at their feet!

The single verse that we are going to look at this week and next, in my mind, is one of those "must" memory verses. It is also probably the most comprehensive, compact, complete description of the Christian life in the entire Bible.

It is Galatians 2:20….

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Now the truth of this verse is simple: Live and let die. That may sound weird, but here is the central fact of the Christian life - If you are going to live the Christian life, YOU must die. And you cannot live until you die.

Now I know that sounds like a paradox, but it is nevertheless true. I want you to listen to the things you must do, that if you will do, you will truly begin living the Christian life victoriously - maybe for the first time since you became one. First of all....

1. LET SELF DIE TO YOU:

The verse begins by saying, "I am crucified with Christ." Now two people have to die in order for you to become a Christian. Jesus had to die FOR you, but then you have to die TO you.

Now when I talk about the self dying that goes against the grain of human nature, human ambition, and human desire. The most common thing put ahead of God is self. The greatest idol in the world today is self.

It's just like that Swanky Country song that Toby Keith sings…. I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I, I wanna talk about number one, old my, me, my; What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see, Now I like talkin' 'bout you, you, you, you usually, But occasionally, I wanna talk about me. Not a Godly Song, by the way.

Well, the first step to BECOMING a Christian, as I'm sure you well know, is accepting Jesus' death for you. But the first step to BEING a Christian is experiencing your death to you.

You see, the Christian life is a crucified life which then becomes a conquering life.

If you study the Apostle Paul you will find that he actually talks about three different kinds of death in the Christian life.

First of all, he talks about the death to SIN which happens to all of us the moment we accept Jesus Christ into our heart.

The second death is the death to SELF; dying to what we want, what we desire; dying to our will.

The third kind of death is the death to SAFETY, when we are called upon to take up the cross knowing that we might even have to suffer physically for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now Paul, in this verse, I believe is talking about all three types of death. What he is saying is this:

Every day for the Christian needs to start with a funeral - yours. You need to die to sin, to self, to safety, and to anything that comes between you and the Lord Jesus Christ. That is exactly what Jesus meant when He said, in Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

A great Christian once said, "In every man's life there is a throne. When self is on the throne, Christ is on the cross; but when Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross."

The first step to living the Christian life is letting you die by being crucified afresh and anew with Christ. Now I know that dying to self is extremely hard.

I heard about a mother that was preparing pancakes for her two little boys - Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. Well the boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake, and the mother saw the boys begin to argue and thought it was a great opportunity to teach them a lesson.

She said, "If Jesus were sitting here He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'" Well Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus."

Well I understand this death to self is hard, but it must be done. I want you to see that this crucifixion is not a feeling it is a fact. Paul says, "I'm crucified with Christ."

Just as Jesus died for you, when you get saved you die with him. Paul describes what happens in Romans 6:6:

Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Now you understand, hopefully, why a Christian should be different. Because when you become a Christian you are no longer the same person; the old you dies, and the new you is born.

The new you is not just a clone of the old you, it is a new you. One of the greatest verses in the Bible says,

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The best way to deal with you, yourself, your flesh, every day is to let it die. You see when self dies to you, or you die to self, then you die to sin; and when you die to sin is when you are free to live.

Let me give you an illustration from a true story. During the Civil War men were drawn by lot to join the Army. A man named Wyatt was called up to fight for the South. He was the sole breadwinner for a very large family. Realizing the hardship this would bring, another young man named Pratt volunteered to go in his place.

He was accepted and drafted and went into battle BEARING THE NAME AND THE NUMBER OF WYATT.

Well, eventually Pratt was killed in battle, and having died as the substitute and in the name of the other man, the full name of Wyatt was recorded as killed in action.

Well, as the war began to get desperate in its later days, Wyatt was again called up for service. But at the recruiting office he stated he could not be drafted because HE HAD DIED ALREADY.

When the entry was researched it was discovered that although the real Wyatt was alive and well, he was DEAD IN THE EYES OF THE AUTHORITY because he was identified with his substitute, and therefore he went free.

That is exactly what happens when you let self die to you and you die to self, then you are free to really begin to live the Christian life.

Next week we will pick up on two more things that we must do in order to live the Christian life, but for now remember…..

Let Self Die To You,

Bro. Jeff

Posted in Devotions 2021
Tagged with Living the Christian LIfe, Christian

1 Comment

Add Your Comment

Jennifer - September 27th, 2021 at 9:36am

Thanks to Bro. Jeff for this devotion. I do think the title of this devotion is a great question! And I want to say that I find Bro. Jeff's answer - "YOU don't" - relieving. I find it relieving because I know deep down that his answer is the truth. We just can't serve God in our own strength . It doesn't last. If we try to serve God without dying to self, that is, we try serve without God or we try to serve for any other reason than to bring glory to God; we will end up exhausted and most likely very disappointed. I truly believe that the failure to die to self is the path to finding ourselves "weary in well doing". However, dying to self is one of those "easier said than done" things because let's face it - we love ourselves quite a bit. So, how do we practically die to ourselves everyday? That's one of questions that popped up in my mind as I read this devotion. Things I thought of were praying for others and being always ready to forgive others. I would love to hear some other thoughts and comments on this tough issue of dying to self.