Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

When I was young, grey-haired pastors would tell me that the most
important subject I could think about is my own personal salvation. But
is there a more important, greater issue to think about than this
self-centered one?

What led Christ to His cross was not such a self-centered motivation.
As we ponder Scripture clues here and there we begin to discern that He
was tempted as all of us humans are tempted--to seek self-preservation;
but a new motivation engrossed His soul. He was concerned not for
Himself, but for the preservation of the universe of God which had been
challenged by the greatest created being of all eternity--Lucifer, who
by rebellion became Satan (Rev. 12:7-10). Satan’s new invention was
the motivation of self-seeking. Our first parents yielded to it, and
therefore every human being descended from Adam has been naturally
self-centered by nature.

The great battle that Jesus fought in Gethsemane and on His cross was
“Not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39). In order to say His
amen to that prayer, He had to surrender His own life, yes, His own
eternal life. Jesus repeatedly assures us that in His becoming one with
us, He took on His soul a “self” as we all have a self to contend
with (John 5:30; 6:38; Luke 9:23; Rom. 15:3, etc.). But the love (agape)
that He was as God, as the Son of God (1John 4:8), confronted this
“self” which He had taken upon Himself, and He denied self and all
self-centered motivation. He denied His own human will.

“Easy” for Him? A zillion times, No! He wept blood as He struggled
in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). And as a “most precious” gift, He has
given us a new motivation for following Him--not just to get a reward for
ourselves in heaven, nor just to save our own little souls, but a new
capacity to sense a concern for Him. The success of His great
controversy with Satan absorbs us. It’s as a bride feels in her soul
a new concern--for the husband who has won her love (Rev. 19:7, 8). This
“growth in grace” is “present truth”(2 Peter 3:18).

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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