Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

Trusting Christ as Your Life (part 1 of 4)

Here's how trusting Christ to express His life through you works. It's what one dear brother called "The Normal Christian Life."

The boss buzzed you on the intercom and told you to come to his office. He said that the report you had submitted for the quarter was unacceptable, and he gave you one week to rewrite it. That's the sort of hell on earth that Christ has saved you from. As you're sitting there with your heart in your throat, you're to think, Lord Jesus, I'm so glad that I don't have to do this rewrite. You are my life and this is Your baby. Thank You for saving me from this. You think that concept in a micro second. Then you say, "Yes, sir, Mr. Mulligan. I'll do my best. The problem will be fixed. You can count on it." Then you think, Whew, Lord! You really do have a problem here. I'm so glad that I don't have to do this rewrite. Yes! The burden is the Lord's!

Afterward, you burn the midnight oil, highly motivated as your hands sometimes fly over, sometimes labor over the keyboard of your computer, trusting that Christ is doing this report for you, through you on a moment-by-moment basis. Yes! You don't go fishing and wait till you feel the Spirit of Christ take over and carry you to the computer terminal. You go sit at the keyboard. You save the document to a working file and then begin the rewrite job. However, your faith is saying, "OK, Lord, where do we begin? I don't have a clue." This, my friend, is trusting Christ as life through you, by faith. Have you missed this piece in the salvation equation? Christ as life comes right along with the package that you acquired when you got saved. Many of us have trusted Jesus as Savior; we've trusted Him as Lord, but may have never trusted Him as life until we meet something which is absolutely beyond our ability. Trusting Christ as life is "[casting] your burden upon the Lord" (Psalm 55:22)-a command, not an option. God commands you to shove the burden of living on earth squarely onto the broad shoulders of your Savior and to keep piling it on Him moment-by-moment. Gang, this may sound like a cop-out to you, but it's normal. You were not saved to "carry your own weight." That is the devil's idea. Not only is this not noble, it is sin to carry your own weight! It's independence. God says, "Whatever [as in breathing God's air] is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23b).