1st Round Draft Choice

In the story discussed formerly involving Daniel and the lion's den, Daniel was envied because of his prosperity and success as an administrator for the King.  Due to their envy, the other administrators wanted to get rid of Daniel somehow but could find no fault in Daniel.  My last devotional revealed my amazement in the righteousness of Daniel to be found blameless by his peers and then mentioned that we should strive to live the same type of lifestyle without blemish.  This week's series of devotionals will give a few reasons that we should consider when asking ourselves, "Why strive for perfection when being mediocre still grants me access to heaven if I'm saved?"  I will divide the answers into two categories: The Reasons and the Rewards being the reasons God tells us to be righteous and the rewards we can receive if we do so.  

Reason #1: We rep Christ. The title Christian literally means "one relating to, belonging to, or resembling Christ."  So if it could be put simple, we are on "Team Christ" and everywhere we go, we represent our team as if we were wearing a jersey or baseball cap with the Christ written across it.  To take it another step further, often times we do wear various Christian apparel or drive around with bumper stickers or other Christian paraphernalia that tells the rest of the world of our affiliation with Christ.  However, what we tend to forget every so often is that because we made a conscience decision to join the team, we now have to fit a certain image associated with Christ. (If you haven't yet, read my blog, Bourne Again Identity for more on image).  

Imagine the day that we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior being like Draft day for the NFL.  As soon as we step up to the stage and put on the hat in front of our peers, we now belong to God. Like the NFL GMs, we are told God paid a "high price" for us so now we are under contract to live for Him, (1 Corinthians 6:20 NLT).  Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight"(NIV).  The crazy thing is, it seems sometimes that most of those who do not claim Christ as their Lord know more about how we as Christians are supposed to live than we do.  They can point out anytime we aren't in alignment with the will of God any opportunity they get and as a result, it looks bad for our team.  Anytime we aren't gentle, kind, loving, forgiving, merciful, pure or any of the other characteristics of God, we damage the image of our owner and makes it so that others are hesitant to join the same team.  We have to "live in such a way that no one will be hindered from finding the Lord by the way (we) act and so no one can find fault in (our) ministry" (2 Corinthians 6:3 NIV) so that everyone wants to join "Team Christ."

Always remember who it is you represent everywhere you go.  We don't want to tarnish the name of God with our actions so we should take after Daniel and make sure that those who are watching us can find no corruption in us.  Rep Christ the right way, Holy and Blameless.