Years and years ago our country had a military draft. If you were a male, when you turned 18 years old, you had to register for the draft, and if your number was called you had to serve (there were exemptions).

Believe it or not, the church has a draft. A lot of people think they are volunteering when they share in the ministry of the church. Nothing could be further from the truth. The problem with volunteering is people can ‘un-volunteer.’ They don’t like or agree with a decision made by the church or something said by the minister(s), and they leave. And although it is true they can leave, they are mistaken if they think they are in charge or control.

The point is each of us have been called by God. God chose you, Jesus called you, and the Holy Spirit drafted you. We do not get to pick which team we want or even which position we get to have (remember James and John wanting to be on the right and left of Jesus?).

To be drafted means we surrender. It means that we do more than accept Jesus as our Savior, it means we accept Him as our Lord. It means that we recognize that He is in charge and we are not, it means He is driving and we are not, and often times it means He will take us to places where we do not want to go, and call us to do things we don’t want to do.

There are some who try to be draft dodgers. Remember Jonah?

The great thing about being drafted is it reminds us we are on a team. The great thing about being drafted is it affirms that we are wanted. Remember, you have been created by God, consecrated by God, called by God and empowered by God. Congratulations!
Donn

Now, if you are a Star Wars fan, you know that the first movie (which happened to be Episode IV) came out in 1977. In real time, Hurley, one of the people who has returned to the island and who is a big Star Wars fan, has seen all 6 episodes and wants to take the opportunity of his travel back in time to re-write the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, Episode V, because on hind-sight, he feels he can improve on the original and wants to “help George Lucas make it better.” Oh, that we could all go back in time, knowing what we know now, and make things better. I am pretty sure this is the dream of anyone who has ever made a mistake in the past.

Of course, this is not possible, but we love a God who does something even better! By accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we are a new creation. The old has gone, and the new has come. In Christ, God reconciled the world to Himself, and does not count our past sins against us. (See 2 Cor. 5:11-21.) We don’t need to go back and change anything because God loves and accepts us as we are – no matter what mistakes we may have made in the past. Life affirming and life-saving change will come from having Christ in our lives. Not only will we be a new creation but a better one as well! Praise the Lord!

Cindy

In Philippians 2:12 Paul reminds us to “continue to work out [our] salvation…” Paul was hardly advocating a ‘works righteousness’ approach to salvation, Paul was always reminding his congregations that we are saved ‘by faith, and not by works.’ But that does not mean that we do not work. Spiritual growth requires intention and effort. The Bible talks quite clearly about ‘baby’ Christians, who haven’t grown or developed, though they may have been a ‘Christian’ for years.

If we are not spiritually growing, we have every reason to suspect that something is wrong…with us. Maybe we’ve been a Christian for several years, but we still gossip, so we are not trustworthy. Maybe we are harsh and abrasive, so people aren’t drawn to us, we don’t have many friends. Maybe we are always getting our feelings hurt or always feeling slighted, maybe we have a lack of joy, a lack of peace, a lack of kindness, maybe we have some secret sin in our life and we don’t think anyone else knows about it and we cannot overcome it. Spiritual growth takes effort, it takes commitment, and if we are stuck in spiritual infancy it may be we have work to do.

Desire is not enough. We can desire to have a healthier body, but we have to make an effort. I can desire to learn a foreign language, but if I really want to pursue this I have to put forth effort. I have to read books, or listen to tapes, or follow a program, or…here’s an idea…ask someone who actually lived in Spain for 20 years, majored in Spanish for 4 years while in college and speaks it fluently, and who I work with everyday, for help. (Cindy has tried, I’m a slow learner). The point is, as sincere as I might be, I cannot go to bed tonight really hoping that when I wake up in the morning I will be able to speak Spanish. I will never learn it simply by wishing. It requires intention and effort.

For spiritual growth to happen we have to work out. We have to immerse ourselves in Scripture, spend time in prayer, and devote ourselves to the disciplines of the Christian life. The good news is that as we work out, God is “working in us” (Philippians 2:13). The ‘work in’ is God’s role; the ‘work out’ is our responsibility. The result is we have healthier spiritual lives and become spiritually fit. We become more easily recognized as a child of God and an ambassador of God’s kingdom.

At Easter, we do not just celebrate the new life given to Jesus, we celebrate the new life God has given us all. Happy Easter! God Bless,