Ephesians 1:22 – 23 “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be the head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
I have recently developed a new appreciation for the church. For years, I have spoken of the church as a building – a pile of bricks and sticks. You’ve heard it before. “Where do you go to church?”
“Isn’t that a pretty church – with the stained glass windows?”
“Oh, I can’t do it tonight. I have to go to church.”
Then, about a year ago, Mark and I became church planters. We are currently meeting in a library. A library is not a church, but the church meets there.
In a few weeks, we will move locations, to the downtown movie theater. A movie theater is not a church, but the church meets there.
God appointed Christ to be the head of the church. God appointed the church to be the body of Christ.
Friends, we are the church. You and me. We are Christ’s arms and legs and hands and feet on this earth. When some hurting soul needs a hug, Christ uses us to give that hug. When someone needs to be rescued, He uses us to do the rescuing. He shows us the hungry, and we are to feed them, the thirsty, and we are to give them water. He is the head, the director, the boss. We are to do what He tells us to do.
When my hand or my foot refuses to do what my head tells it to do, my entire body is handicapped. In the same way, when we as individuals fail to act in obedience to Christ, our head, we handicap the entire body – the church. When we try to call the shots instead of listening to Christ, we hurt ourselves, we hurt others, and we hurt Christ.
But when we each, individually, act in obedience to the One whom God has appointed to be our head, the results are nothing short of miraculous. Wounded souls find relief. Hungry bellies are fed. Lonely people find love. And through it all, Christ is glorified.
Dear Father, Please teach me to be obedient to Christ, so that His work here may be accomplished.
Amen
Thank you, Renae, for visiting my blog. I had to drop in to check yours out, too. And I wasn’t disappointed. It’s beautifully simple , elegant – like God’s Word.
Jean
A fellow member of the Body
Dear One,
Thanks for so often living what you write about here.
Being the Body of Christ for me, encouraging, admonishing, loving, praying for me.
You truly seek to practice what you preach.
Love,
Jlo
Thanks, Judi. I feel the same way about you!
And Jean, thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again here! 🙂
Wonderful post!
Doing my best with this one Renae!
Hi There! I ran into your site absolutely by mistake, and it turned out to being a blessing. You bring a lot of interesting things to the table and I will be back for more 🙂 Thanks!