| “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” |
| —Colossians 1:27-28 |
Did you ever think of the fact that sometimes there is a distinct advantage to be the person second in line? Please let me illustrate:
As I’ve shared several times before on this blog, when I was in junior high and high school, the one class I absolutely dreaded was physical education class. As a very fat, uncoordinated, non-sports-oriented kid, I loathed what we called in those days, “Gym Class.” I hated those 50 minutes very much.
To add to my displeasure, I entered junior high at a time when, by my ninth grade year, President John F. Kennedy had begun his initiative called “The President’s Council on Physical Fitness.” We went from having physical education twice a week to to having this dreaded class every single day. Thereafter, my pain increased greatly. To add to my misery, instead of seeing me as a challenge to gently help move toward fitness, my gym class teachers hated me and saw me as someone to ridicule.
Because I didn’t know how to do any of the things that “normal, sports-oriented” boys knew how to do, I would avoid at all costs being first in line. I would hang back and watch others go first in order to get the idea of what was expected of me. Most of the time, that worked pretty well—even when I could seldom properly complete the assigned task.
In our relationship with God, we Gentile “Christ’s-ones” often forget that we are second in line. Yes, God did choose us before the foundation of the world. But, He revealed His chosen people first when He called out Abraham and named the people of Israel His chosen people.
I’m not at all certain how many modern American Jews realize the extremely important role they play in the history of Christian Spiritual Formation. Likewise, I do not think most so-called Evangelical Christians realize how magnificently important Jewish people are to the heritage of our relationship with God through His precious Son, Jesus.
We tend to forget that Jesus was Jewish. We tend to forget, as the Apostle Paul so elegantly describes in Romans 9, 10, and 11, that we Gentile Christians have been grafted into the line of our Jewish brothers and sisters—the line of David.
(As a side note, this is why it is so very important for us to have an on-going and powerful relationship with the nation of Israel. These are God’s first-chosen people. They are our brothers and sisters in our relationship with God. We should love them and do all we can to support and care for them, even if they do not themselves acknowledge the love bond that we have with them.)
So, we are second in line. But, praise God, we are in that line. We have much to learn about a relationship with God by reading the Old Testament and observing the challenges that the Jews faced as God’s chosen people.
If we read carefully, we will discover that the one thing God prizes above all else is obedience to His will and to His written Word. Notice what the Apostle Paul writes to the new Christians gathered in the city of Colosse, as recorded in Colossians 1:27-28:
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
This new day, let’s remember we are all learning obedience together. That’s why it is so important that we seek fellowship with other believers. That’s why we are love-bonded as brothers and sisters in Christ.
We are to support one another. We are to help one another. We are to cheer each other on, as we move forward in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let this be a day wherein we reach out to support a fellow believer. Let us say a kind word, offer a prayer, or, in some other way, show our love and support. We will bless God and bless ourselves if we do so.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2018
