Outstanding

I will admit it, even though I know it is a country song, camo is my favorite color.   I love camouflage because I love to hunt, and it makes me so much more effective in pursuit of game when they look but can’t see me. I loved camouflage even before I was old enough to hunt. It used to be my modus operandi.  Stay in the background and don’t be noticed.  Hide in plain sight.  Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself. 

We often like to do that in our lives.  Blend in with everyone else.  When they laugh we laugh, when they are upset we are upset.  We become steeple to our coworkers, our peers, and all of those we allow to influence us.  Blending in is safer.  You don’t get picked on.  You don’t attract criticism or invite comment into your life.  But look out if you start to stand out.

When we have Jesus our lives will stand out.  He changes everything, and everything is changed in our life saving encounter with Him. This change comes about because we are transformed at the core of our identity.   So much so that Jesus describes it as being born again.  Where once our identity was built on things of this world, we are transformed and those elemental and core aspects of our very self become centered on Jesus.  What is at the core of your identity?  Is it made up of things from this world or has it been transformed by Jesus?

In the next few weeks we will look at that very question, and explore how we are being called to be… outstanding.

 

See you at church,

Pastor Chris