LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Recommending Christ
"And so we, as his co-workers, exhort you also not to receive the grace of God in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1).
We who believe and have received Christ have received the grace of God, for Christ is the grace of God. And, if we have grace, we also have a responsibility: God has made us his ambassadors and given us the ministry of reconciliation. What a great privilege! But here the apostle Paul exhorts us not to receive this grace in vain.
We can cooperate with God by having fellowship with him, if we surrender ourselves to let him work. To receive grace in vain is not to let Christ expand to the different areas of our being and to other people.
Isaiah 10:1-2 says: "Woe to those who make unjust laws and prescribe tyranny, to withhold judgment from the poor, and to take away the right of the afflicted of my people, to rob the widows, and to rob the fatherless!". To receive grace in vain is to take away the right of the afflicted of God's people, of those who thirst for Christ, it is to rob those who are not yet part of the bride of Christ and those who do not yet have God as their Father. We must not rob God's people of what belongs to them, but collaborate with them and recommend Christ.
Therefore, daily communion with God is vital. If we do not show up daily and wait upon him, then we will walk in our own ways. "For he saith, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We give no man occasion to stumble, lest our ministry should be reproached: but in all things we commend ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses" (2 Cor. 6:1-4).
The characteristics and situations the apostle mentions here are not qualities of our natural man. The time is acceptable because Christ already died on the cross, because his precious blood cleanses us from all sin and makes us acceptable before the Father. The apostle, here, is commending Christ in everything; he is not commending himself - he is serving, commending Christ to others.
Then he says: "...as we are dying, yet behold, we live; as poor, yet making many rich" (v. 10). When we are weak, then we are strong, and we can commend Christ by the power of God. If we commend ourselves and not Christ, it means that we are still rich in our 'I', in our concepts, in our wisdom, in our achievements. But, if we are poor in ourselves, we will be rich in Christ, and thus enrich many.
To be on God's way is to recommend Christ in everything. On this path we will pass through the valley of tears, but we will change it into a fountain when the rain fills the pools, when we allow the fountain in our spirit to water our soul. Then we will be able to give Christ to others to drink. Thank you for the trials, which turn tears into fountains; thank you for the cross, which allows us to recommend Christ!