Day 25 – What is my all?

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of me. Philippians 2:5-7

My Bible has a note attached to the phrase "emptied Himself". It says that this could also be understood as "laid aside His privileges." In other words, Jesus laid aside His privileges as a member of the triune God so that He could be like us humans. The reason that He wanted to be like us was so that He could demonstrate His perfect love for us by dying in our place.

Davy Flowers spoke at the EGS service tonight. She has been wrestling through the question, "What does it mean to be a radical, wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ in our 21^st century culture?" Davy defined radical Christianity as "the exchange of all for all or willingly surrendering all that I am for all that Christ is." She went on to talk about how Jesus already gave His all for us. As Philippians explains, Jesus gave up the privileges that are rightly His as the all-powerful, God of the universe and became a human man. He took on a human body and all of the frailties that come with it. Then, He took on our sins as well.

But He was pierced through (wounded) for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being (peace) fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on (encounter) Him. Isaiah 53:5-6

Davy shared this picture that she has of Jesus, standing with the Father, and looking down to earth in love. He saw how desperately wicked we are and how we were dead in our sins. Jesus was so full of love that He had to demonstrate it. So, He left heaven and gave His all in order to encounter the consequences of our sin. Jesus was literally wounded as punishment for the sins that you and I have committed. He gave His all so that He could dwell in relationship with us, face to face, forever.

The question that I began to ask myself as I heard her speak was, "What is my all? What am I, Jody Anne Pearcy, called to offer to Jesus in exchange for what He has given me? What privileges am I willing to lay aside for Him, knowing that He laid aside all of His privileges for me?"

My response is that I am not entirely sure. I have some ideas and I have directed these questions to Jesus. I believe that He wants every square inch of my soul, my money, my thoughts, my personality, my gifts, my hopes and dreams, my time, my energy and my affections. I believe that He cries out "Mine!" over every part of me and I really want Him to have my all, whatever that is. I also believe that He is going to give me the grace to walk this out. As Jesus told the disciples when they asked "Then who can be saved?!" after He called the rich, young ruler to give his all and follow Him.

Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27

If you are a follower of Christ, then He is calling you to give your all. What does that look like? I cannot tell you because only He knows what it means for you to be completely abandoned to Him. Ask Him and I am sure that He will show you and give you the grace that you need to walk it out. This is what I am committing myself to. I am sure that it will be painful in the process, but I really want to stand before Him one day and know that I gave my all in love for Him.