Good day dear friends.
Our text for today comes from 2 Corinthians 5: 6 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. 11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (NRSV)
Living with confidence is the only way to live. The choices away from confident living are those that fret, worry, struggle, stumble, cower, run, and hide. To live confidently, according to this passage, is to live in Christ. To live without Christ is to choose this other way to live, and that isn't much of a life. To receive Christ as our Lord and Savior means to surrender our lives completely to Him, and that is the beginning of the confident life. To reject Christ or to live a life based on our own thinking, without praying, without Bible study, without worshiping with other believers, is to take a different and rougher path through life. It's not a fun way to journey. Paul's encounter with Christ allowed him to see there would be a better way to live here on the earth because when the day came there would be a perfect life lived in the constant, eternal presence of Christ. Jesus presented Himself real to Paul, and Paul lived the rest of his earthly life desiring to be with Christ again. But this "meantime life" meant that his life was now new, completely new. The old things had passed away and the new things were spiritual and pleasing to God. Paul's old self was gone; his desire to kill Christians went away, and now Paul's desire was to make new Christians. What a change!
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for the newness of life that is ours through Jesus. I pray that we might truly be new creatures, turning over and leaving with You our old selves, taking on the life-affirming and life-giving ones that we need. May we be a witness to all as we live our lives, so that others may choose to become new in You. Help me to overcome the things that weigh me down or cause me to be less than confident. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
