October 31, 2018
The Only Real Sadness in Life is Not to Be a Saint
The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world;
the world is peripheral to the church.
Ephesians 1:22 (MSG)
Far too often the followers of
Christ shrink back at the notion that they are a saint. Even though Protestants
don’t agree with the Roman Catholic tradition of bestowing the title, Saint, on
only a chosen few, nevertheless, they tend to think that it is rare indeed when
a Christian can be referred to as a saint. Against this backdrop is the
stunning theological truth that to be a Christian is to have been sanctified by
the blood of Jesus. You can’t be a Christian without first being sanctified;
you can’t be a Christian unless you are a saint. Hence, it is precious to God
when His saints die because the last obstacle to His children being fully
present with Him has been removed: “Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15 KJV).
Perhaps it was this theological
truth that led the French poet, Leon Bloy, to write, “The only real sadness in
life is not to be a saint.” Bloy’s words are doubled-edged. First, there is the
sadness for those who never embrace for themselves the saving grace of Jesus
Christ. Secondly, there is the sadness of those who, although they have tasted
the grace of God, never allow God’s grace to fully transform them. These sad
ones look at Saint Paul’s remarkable description of being in the fullness of
God as the romantic musings of a mystic that never can be the experience of the
masses: “Nothing between us and God, our
faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much
like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as
God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18 MSG).
My Takeaway: How can we take steps to change our mindset; how can
we more fully embrace our truest identity as the saints of God? One way is to
begin to fully embrace the words of Saint Paul to his friends in Ephesus: “The church, you see, is not peripheral to
the world; the world is peripheral to the church” (Ephesians 1:22 MSG).
When you begin to see yourself living at the center of God’s will for your
life, your view of yourself and your environment will change.
Sē’lah
Alex
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(Selah is a word that appears in the
Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my
correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about
these things.)
These
meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his
way of life. The meditations are
published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/
and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may
subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by
subscription.
Publications by Alex M. Knight:
·
Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New
Testament and Psalms has been
published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.
·
The second
edition of First Think – Then Pray
is available on Amazon Kindle.
·
Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus
Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,
Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
