Let’s start with scripture:
John 15: 13-17
[13] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
[14] Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
[15] Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
[16] Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
[17] These things I command you, that ye love one another.
This series of verses have probably been preached in many ways, and I personally have sat and heard this taught in many ways, but God showed this to me in a whole new view. Sure it might be old news to you, so let it be a refreshing thought to your mind.
Jesus Christ came and died for us that we would have grace through him, and that we would have salvation, therein, giving these verses meaning in the significance in the physical sense of laying down one’s life.
But how does it apply to me now in the life I live today? What does it mean to be a friend now? It’s not meaning for you to go and lay down your physical life for someone else. Christ made that sacrifice that our sins be forgiven and that we find the path to Heaven through salvation. Praise God for that.
The meaning goes a little deep then that. This is what God was showing me. See, there are many people that come into our churches, which come into our midst no matter where we are, that need us to get past ourselves, to lay down ourselves, our flesh, so that we can be about God’s business, and help them find the path to Christ.
God has ordained us to bear fruit, to speak the great things about him, to be that witness, therefore, to share our testimony, and not to be stuck up or too proud to share what God has done for us; in other words, to not be too busy for someone in need. We need to be more Christ-like then ever in these days that we are living in, for we are the only light that people will ever see. And if we are not shining the light, how will they ever find the way through the darkness they walk through every single day?
Be willing to lay yourself down, just as Christ did, in the spiritual sense, so that someone else might have a chance to have a breakthrough and have that great experience as you once did, to find that compassion that someone once showed you. What a powerful word God has shown me, if we can only apply this quickly and do it at a more even quicker rate! Help me get this out to the masses! I know you can!