Remembering Your Position – Of and For Christ
Philemon 1 – “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ….”
If I introduced you to a person right now, how would you describe yourself? Most of us would begin with our names, which is clearly the apparent answer. But what would be the next words that came out of your mouth. Usually, it would be a description of your job if you are already working full-time. If you are a student in college, you might begin by stating your university and the major you are pursuing. If you are married, you might introduce yourself as the husband or wife of someone. But interestingly enough most of us will not begin by saying that we belong to Jesus Christ.
If you check Paul’s numerous letters in the Bible, he almost always begins in a certain way. Almost all of Paul’s letters begin with him giving a greeting, in which he states his name Paul and follows up with his description of himself. Sometimes he says an apostle of Jesus Christ, sometimes a servant of Jesus Christ, sometimes, he just begins with a basic greeting of his name. But what I find interesting is that Paul always describes himself as something of or for Jesus Christ. The key phrase Paul begins all of his letters with is Paul, sometihng of Jesus Christ. No matter what state or condition Paul was in, he was in it for Jesus Christ. If he was a missionary preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ from city to city, he was doing it as a missionary for Jesus Christ. If he was serving as a tentmaker in Corinth, he was a tentmaker for Jesus Christ. If he was serving the Lord in his everyday life, he was a servant of Jesus Christ. But interstingly enough, even in the bad times, when he was a prisoner, he was a prisoner for/of Jesus Christ. Paul had his focus correct. No matter what he did. No matter where he was, he always belonged to Christ.
We as disciples of Jesus Christ must remember that we belong to Christ. When we received Jesus Christ into our hearts, we received Him not only as Savior but as Lord, meaning Master. That means that we now belong to Him. Being His disciples, we choose everyday to pick up our cross and follow Him, meaning that we belong to Christ. So no matter what you are doing, remind yourself that you are doing this for/of Jesus Christ. For example, right now, I am a post-baccalaureate fellow at the NIH, doing research, but more importantly, I am a post-bacc for Jesus Christ. I am also currently writing these devotional blog posts, so I am a writer for Jesus Christ. I have chosen to be a disciple, so I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am the son of Reynaldo and Erlinda Bangayan, but more importantly I am the son of my parents for Jesus Christ. No matter what position you are in whether you are a trash man, mailman, president and CEO, student, college grad, elementary kid, or friend of someone you should always remember if you are a disiciple you are those positions for/of Jesus Christ.
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