When I entered college I began a journey to understand what is what that I believed and why I believed it. I wanted to have my own faith. I grew up in the church with some amazing parents who always pointed me back to God and His Word. But I wanted to know why these things that I had heard all of my life were true. I wanted to understand who I was and why I was.
I found during this time an amazing Savior who loved me just the way I was - messed up and not perfect. I found a best-friend who was always there to listen to me moan and groan about life and celebrate with me when something great happened. I began to understand that I was never alone, even in the darkness of my dorm room. I looked around me at the north Georgia mountains and saw the Creator of this wondrous creation.
These are the same things that Paul begins telling the church at Rome. Remember that he is writing to believers, Jews and Gentiles alike. He is writing to the church - that includes even those of us who are believers today. Check out these passages from Romans 1:
"The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God's Son. His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!" (Romans 1.2-7 MSG)Did you catch all of that? Jesus is who He is because of His Father in heaven and because of His fathers here on earth. We are who we are because of our fathers here on earth and our Father in heaven. My dad is a great man - not perfect by any stretch. He loved me the best way that he knew how, and when I realized that it set me free.
God, my Father in heaven, loves me as well, but is more than a great man. He is the Creator of great men. He is the Author and Perfecter of faith. He is the main reason that I am who I am. Did you also see this part - "Through him"? It is through Jesus Christ, all that He is, was and is to be, that we receive salvation. It isn't dependent on my actions, or lack thereof. I am who I am because of the generous gift of Jesus and the call that He has put on my life to tell others about Him.
As Christians, or followers of Christ, we are who we are because of Jesus - not because we follow a certain set of laws, or attend a certain church, or hold to a strong belief that has been passed down from generation to generation. We are who we are because of Jesus and what He did on the cross. I am who I am ALL and ONLY because of Jesus.
"You are the choices that you make" is a quote that I heard a while ago and use quite frequently when talking with students and my girls. So today I choose Jesus. Today I choose to submit my will to Him. Today I choose to rest in the generous gift through Him and find myself immersed in who He is. Today I give You all of me for all of You.
Will you join me?
