Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

June 11th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Paul settled the matter concerning his old life and directs us to do the same. The old self-centered I is crucified (put to death) with Jesus Christ, so it no longer has any right to live. Our job as believers is to see that it doesn’t live and is left in the watery grave of our baptism.

A young man approached his pastor and asked, “What does it mean, as far as this life is concerned, to be crucified with Christ?” The pastor said, “It means three things. First, someone on a cross faces in only one direction. Second, that person is never going back; and third, they no longer have plans of their own.”

Many believers try to face two directions at once because they have a divided heart. They want to go to heaven, but they also love the world. We see this in Lot’s wife as she ran away in one direction, from the destruction of Sodom, but looked back because her heart was still too much in the life she had enjoyed in Sodom. And the result was her death.

A crucified person is never coming back because death separates them completely from the life they once knew. That person has settled the matter in their heart and never wants to go back to their old life again, because their chains have been broken. And they no longer have their own plans. They have surrendered all self-generated plans and only wait for their God-planned destiny, which includes laboring in His kingdom and spending eternity in His presence. Let’s run toward that fresh, new adventure of life that God holds out to us again this day.

“LORD, we lay our lives down afresh and give You all we have, in Jesus’ name.”