Remember Who You Are in Christ – September 17, 2021

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
James 1:22-25

Remember Who You Are in Christ

In a moving scene in Disney’s The Lion King, the spirit of the departed Mufasa admonishes his son Simba with the words, “Remember who you are.” The young lion’s lifestyle choices revealed that he had forgotten who he was—the rightful king, and therefore he had forgotten his father as well.

The Bible closely connects Christian behavior with a conscious and deliberate recollection of who we are in Jesus Christ. We read in the Bible that all of us had been doomed to damnation because of our disobedience to God and his word. But through his perfect life and innocent death, Jesus set us free from the curse of the law. Connected to Christ through Baptism, we died to sin. Now we live for God as his dearly loved children and heirs of heaven. How could we return to the way of life that separated us from God in the first place?

Unfortunately, that is what happens when believers forget what the Bible reveals about who they are in Christ and what type of life that God has called them to live as Christ’s followers. All too easily, we slip into old sinful habits and self-destructive patterns. As Jesus told his disciples, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The solution is to purposefully peer into God’s Word daily and prayerfully put into practice what we read there. In the blood of Jesus, you have been washed clean from your sin—don’t roll around in the same immoral mud anymore. Remember that you belong to Christ and live as a child of God.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, let me never forget what you have done for me and what you have called me to be. I am your disciple; let me learn from you. You are my Savior; let me serve you in thanksgiving. Amen.