What I Learned Today

An interesting thing happened today, I was asking God how I can grow closer to Him and a book that was on my night table fell off and landed by my feet. It was my copy of “Mere Christianity” written by C.S. Lewis that I have been reading this past week. I proceeded to read and there was my answer. On page 59 Lewis wrote about how when we become Christians we develop a “Christ-life”, or a new life that God gives us to replace the old and I came across an interesting line. Lewis wrote “But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from Christ-life inside of him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” A thing that has mystified me is how to “crucify my old self” as Paul writes it; I understood the believing and accepting part but it was the changing that eluded me. Then I came across that passage and realized this, He wants to be with us. The amazing thing about Jesus’ death was that as Lewis puts it, it makes us right with God. There is no doubt that we are inherently bad, we are so to speak born bad (whether to the bone or not I don’t know), but because of Jesus God gives us a chance to be with Him. Being a Christian is more than believing all the “stuff,” it’s a life with God. We must give up our old self and when we do God does a really cool thing He actually works in us through the Holy Spirit and the closer we are to Him the louder His voice is and the more evident He is in our lives. God desires us to do good works, not to earn His love or to just please Him (we should do good works to please God but that’s not the main point), but we are to do good works out of worship and so that we can be with Him.