Monday Motivational - He Came To His Own

                                                             Monday Motivational – He Came To His Own
 
      Hey guys and welcome to another Monday Motivational! It is crazy how quickly summer is approaching. Daily I think about how much still needs to be done before we start our summer program but rather than getting discouraged about there not being enough time or people to get it all ready, I am always encouraged by what God has in store for us this summer! I am grateful that we have staff and counselors that were receptive to His call and will be partnering with us this summer. With everything going on lately I have been reflective of how obedience seems to be a little easier when you don’t have time to second guess what’s going on. Does that ever seem true in your life? When things are moving at a slower pace you have more time to over-analyze and second-guess the instructions you are given. This is what we will be talking about in this weeks Monday Motivational.
 
      A few weeks back in my Thursday night bible study we were looking at John 1:1-18 and there is a specific verse that has stuck out to me ever since. Verse 11 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”. A little bit of context for this verse; John wrote it about the early stages of Christ ministry and the people who were “his own” were the Jews who had all of the Old Testament Prophets and literature to prepare them for Christ’s ministry, yet when He actually started “his own people did not receive him”. How could this be right? Is it even possible to be told your whole life that something very specific is going to happen and then when it does you don’t believe it? Sadly, it is very much so possible. The same thing essentially happens to us every time that we question His guidance and direction that He is giving to us in our lives.
 
      When we start to place our faith in the saving gospel of Christ we are welcomed into the fold and become His people. We are taught at an early age that a critical part of the journey to sanctification is obedience and receiving the call and guidance He puts in our life. When we decide to do things our way, for whatever reason that may be, we are taking a stand against the instruction of Christ. How is this any different than those who Christ came to and chose not to receive Him? There is no difference, and whether we do it intentionally or not the fact still remains that we do it. I am not sure about you guys, but it breaks my heart to know that Christ comes to me with instructions of how to handle situations or how to prepare for what is next in my life, and even though I know He only has my best interest in mind I still do not receive His instructions. So how do we better prepare ourselves to receive Him when He comes to us with instructions?
 
      It is a simple answer, but difficult in application. John 1:12-13 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”. Our flesh and our human understandings (limitations) but be removed from the equation. Through placing our faith in the name of Christ and believing in His sacrifice we become “children of God” that are “born…of God”. This is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5 when he says we become a new creation in Christ, and in Romans 12 when he says we must be transformed by the renewal of our minds.
 
    Christ doesn’t just come to us once so that we may place our faith in Him and then never bother with us again. He continually comes to us through the Spirit with instructions on how to live our life. Are you going to be like His people who He came to and they did not receive Him, or will you be receptive to the instructions He gives you and live them out faithfully?
 
Happy Monday!