THE HIGHEST COMMISSION
Are you satisfied to be a nobody? You can try the educational world if you would like to be somebody. Or there may be openings for you in the world of politics. But once you step through the door of the church, you are a nobody. Are you willing?
But I would rather phrase the question in a positive way: Are you satisfied with the highest commission? The Lord Jesus turned from His own will and His own glory in order to take the Father’s life and live Him. This same high commission is yours: to take Christ as your life and to live Him. It is no more I but Christ that lives in me. This is both the Christian life and the church life. How far it surpasses the will and the glory of the self!
Let nothing distract you from this commission. Do not be concerned about worldliness. Do not think about weakness. Do not be burdened by your sins. The more you try to overcome worldliness, weakness, and sin, the more you will be victimized by them. If you take Christ as your life and live Him out, these and all the other negative things will flee away.
PRACTICING
In the everyday affairs of life, do not be pushed into doing things quickly. Do not reply, or even utter anything, in haste. Whatever the provocation, be steady. If a difficult situation arises with your wife, for example, do not be troubled. Just confer with the Lord within: “Lord, I do not do anything. I am one with You. You act in me. You answer my wife. I would not do anything apart from You.”
Having this attitude of taking the Lord as our life saves us from trying to obey the letter of the Bible. By constantly turning to Him and declaring that we are one with Him, we provide Him the opportunity to change us by metabolically carrying away the old and replacing it with the new. Such will be the effect of the nourishing Word we take in—not outward correction but inward change.
How privileged you are to have this other life! As you practice living by Christ, you will see how different you are from those in the world, who have only their own life. God has imparted His life to you. Now He wants you to live Him out as your living.
As the Son lived the Father by the Father’s life, so today we live the Son by the Son’s life. Let us thank Him that we two have one life and one living; the life is His, and the living is ours. This is the proper Christian life.
(Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 25, by Witness Lee)
