Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
I’ve heard of this before, but thought it was just a line for something like the Family Circus comic.
My daughter, who lives locally, has been attending church with us along with her children (I’m very proud of her for that!). Her 3-year-old son looked at our preacher recently and said, “It’s God! Look, Mom, it’s God!”
On another Sunday, he approached the preacher and said politely, “Hi, God.”
Apparently, he was told they were going to God’s house, and since the preacher did most of the “important” talking, he must be God.
This started me thinking about our Christian life and how others should view us. In 2 Corinthians 4:5-7, Paul said that God had given Christians a treasure, a light shining in our hearts. Because God is both spirit and light and gives us both light and his Holy Spirit when we become Christians, it’s probable the Holy Spirit is being referred to as that light (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; Ephesians 5:8-11; Acts 2:38-39; Romans 8:9-11).
One purpose of this light is so we can understand God’s word and know how to please him and escape the corruption caused by evil desires (1 Corinthians 2:14-15; 2 Peter 1:3-4). As Christians, we’re responsible for knowing God’s will for our own protection from Satan’s attacks (2 Peter 1:5-11; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Matthew 4:1-11; James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-18).
We’re also to gain knowledge of God to help others understand it so they can become God’s children as well (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:15-16; Romans 10:14-17; Acts 8:26-39, especially verse 31; Matthew 28:18-20). Hence, another purpose of the light is so we can show others what God is like, his divine nature.
To become a Christian and participate in the divine nature, we must believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead (that also entails recognizing Jesus loved us and died for our sins, John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:24), we must confess Jesus as Lord, and we must call on his name putting to death the sinful self and allowing God to do his work of circumcising our hearts (Romans 10:8-13; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-11; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 2:9-11; Philippians 2:12-13).
Transformation into God’s image is a continual process that only happens through the indwelling Holy Spirit (Colossians 3:1-10; Romans 7:14-25; 8:12-17; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). When we begin our new life in Christ, offering ourselves as living sacrifices after we’ve crucified our sinful nature, we’ll begin to understand God’s will more perfectly and begin reflecting his divine nature to others Romans 12:1-2).
If you want to be a Christian, but haven’t been baptized to have your sins forgiven and to receive the Holy Spirit, do so today in obedience to God as the first step in participating in his divine nature (2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Acts 26:19-20; John 14:15-21; Acts 5:32; 1 Peter 1:22-25). Even Jesus obeyed God making him truly able to show God to us (Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 3:13-17; John 14:9-12, 31; Hebrews 5:7-9).
Leonard Lauriault writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at