July 23, 2004
Dying Daily
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
We are hard-pressed on every side, . . . always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. —2 Corinthians 4:8,10
Bible In One Year: Psalms 33-34; Acts 24
Are you in a situation where you are often misunderstood for your faith in Christ? Are you surrounded by people with a carping, critical spirit? Do you get little or no credit for the work you do in your church or for your family?
The proper response is a willingness to have a humble and submissive spirit—to die as Jesus did throughout His life. Yes, our Lord died once on the cross; but in another sense He also died every day. The cross was the culmination of an entire lifetime of dying. He was willing to be misunderstood and maligned, to give up home and comforts, to take the role of a servant. That was His“death.”We must be willing to die in that way as well.
When we die with Him, God’s gift to us is“the life of Jesus”(2 Corinthians 4:10), the most attractive life ever lived. His beauty will gradually grow in us and become our beauty as well.
Remember this saying:“A picture is worth a thousand words.”The portrait you draw of Jesus with your humble, tranquil presence in the face of grievous wrong is worth many words on the subject. Some may see the life of Jesus revealed in you and long to enter into that life. That’s how dying daily can help bring life to another. —David Roper
And grant me this, I pray:
That I through Your sweet love may grow
More like You day by day. —Garrison
Living daily for Christ requires dying daily to self.