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Listen while you read: "Hosanna Loud Hosanna"1
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How is it that so often, something happens, and later, as we think it over, we realize that we had a perfect opportunity to talk to someone about Jesus, but we weren't able to think fast enough?
To get my needed walking exercise (and get paid for it), I deliver various routes for our community newspaper as a substitute carrier. I've noticed that when I come around a corner unexpectedly, I tend to startle people. On one such occasion, the person blurted out, "Oh, Jesus! You scared me!" Of course, I apologized profusely, but later, I began to think about what I could have said: "No, I'm sorry. You've mistaken me for Jesus, but He is my best Friend!"
Then, I began to think what a great honour it would be to really be mistaken for Jesus. There are various stories on the Internet about a man who missed his plane or his train to help a child pick up a spilled jigsaw puzzle or a box of apples, and the child has asked, "Mister, are you Jesus?" But really, to be mistaken for Jesus is the whole point of being a Christian.
Romans 8:29 – For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (NLT)
One of the objectives that God has in mind when people believe in Jesus is that they should become Christlike. The long process of becoming holy like that is called "sanctification", being "conformed to the likeness of his Son", as the NIV puts it. God wants us to have "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV).
When Jesus was hanging dead on the cross, the devil must have rubbed his hands with glee at having gotten rid of the Son of God. What he didn't realize was that God's intention all along was that after Jesus rose from the dead and imparted His Spirit to thousands of believers, there would be thousands, even millions, of near-replicas of Jesus spreading God's Word, instead of just one Jesus! Sadly, that doesn't always happen — to our discredit.
Let's ask ourselves: What change do I need to make in my life to become more like Jesus? Could I actually be mistaken for Jesus, at least once in my lifetime?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we long to become like You. Sin crouches at our door, desiring to have us. Cleanse and purify us this day, that we might be mistaken for You. In Your name, we pray. Amen.
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About the author:
Robin Ross <rross@telus.net>
Mission, British Columbia, Canada
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