Leftover Tators

Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV)
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In my first 2 posts

I talked about the importance of imitating Christ. That is where I got the title be imitators of Christ. I want to tell you about another aspect that often gets brought up in relation to Christ and how we imitate him. The leftovers of our "tators" series, yes I realize its been over 2 years since I posted about it, will cover this concept of humility. Before we go to the scripture I want to tell you a story. Lately, I have been riding my mountain bike to and from work. It's sometimes no fun, getting up early and setting out at 7:30 to go to work. Now compared to many, I am fortunate. I live 2 miles away from my job. It takes 4 minutes driving to work from my apartment. As I was riding my bike to work on August 8, 2012, I saw a man running. As I approached him, I watched him, steady pace, running with purpose. As I passed him, I continued to look. What caused my attention to be flagged was not the man's clothing, or his pace, but rather his posture. The man was doubled over at the mid-back. He was running at a remarkable pace for someone who's center of Gravity was clearly not what anyone would consider normal. As I watched him, in visible awe, I noted that he had a bit of a grimace on his face. Then smiling to myself, I wondered if that is what is really being talked about in Philippians 2. The silent, steady pace of the man and the natural posture of what could be years of hard work lying on his back were a clear image to me of what we as Christ's followers are to be. Our attitude should be humble, like the man's bent back, in complete surrender to God's ways. Note that the man was not cursing God, or showing signs of anger about his gnarled back, he kept running along. The kindly old man, in 5 seconds gave me a vision of what I want my life to be like in the spiritual realms. Running along, running towards the destiny that God, knowing that every step I take, I take in such grand humility that people look at me and see humility. Not once, did the man complain, whimper, or whine during the 5 second event. He had every right to be upset about his back. Not only did that look uncomfortable, it probably hurt to run because of the compression his spine was already incurring.

My point is this


in order to imitate Christ effectively, we need to become the kind of humble servant that he became. Jesus was so willing to serve, he offered his life to buy us from the task-master of sin and death. He was so willing to do that, he did it without complaint, or trying to find a way out. Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life. Zephaniah 2:3 Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’s anger.

SELAH

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