Jesus is the Model for Our Life
BCC family,
As we continue through the story of the Bible in our series, I hope you are finding it informative, encouraging, and stretching. My hope and prayer have been for years that we would dive deeper into God’s word together as a family, hiding his word in our hearts so that we might not sin against him (Ps. 119:11). The process of hiding God’s word in our hearts takes time and effort. It takes way more time than an hour on Sunday morning! Maybe that is why we need to continue to view our relationship with God as a journey.
The Bible speaks of a close relationship with God as “walking” with Him. Enoch walked with God. 1 John also highlights this imagery of walking. In 2:6, John tells us we are to “live” (literally, “walk”) as Jesus did. From our sermon yesterday, Jesus tells us in John 13:15 “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Walking, then, is a description of the whole life and relationship we have with God through Jesus. The reason we hide his word in our hearts and minds, then, is so that we will know what he is like, and what his desires for us are. In this way, we will not only KNOW the story. We will LIVE the story, as we walk/live as Jesus did.
When we begin to do this, our personal lives start to change. Our families and workplaces and schools are impacted. The world is made better as the kingdom of God breaks into the world through our lives and actions. Thus, what the world needs is not Christians who simply know the stories of the Bible. The world needs to see Christians living, or walking, out of the story that was started so long ago and is now flowing through our lives, as well.
--
As we continue through the story of the Bible in our series, I hope you are finding it informative, encouraging, and stretching. My hope and prayer have been for years that we would dive deeper into God’s word together as a family, hiding his word in our hearts so that we might not sin against him (Ps. 119:11). The process of hiding God’s word in our hearts takes time and effort. It takes way more time than an hour on Sunday morning! Maybe that is why we need to continue to view our relationship with God as a journey.
The Bible speaks of a close relationship with God as “walking” with Him. Enoch walked with God. 1 John also highlights this imagery of walking. In 2:6, John tells us we are to “live” (literally, “walk”) as Jesus did. From our sermon yesterday, Jesus tells us in John 13:15 “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Walking, then, is a description of the whole life and relationship we have with God through Jesus. The reason we hide his word in our hearts and minds, then, is so that we will know what he is like, and what his desires for us are. In this way, we will not only KNOW the story. We will LIVE the story, as we walk/live as Jesus did.
When we begin to do this, our personal lives start to change. Our families and workplaces and schools are impacted. The world is made better as the kingdom of God breaks into the world through our lives and actions. Thus, what the world needs is not Christians who simply know the stories of the Bible. The world needs to see Christians living, or walking, out of the story that was started so long ago and is now flowing through our lives, as well.
--
Daren Penwell
Lead Pastor
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