Come to Jesus Christ. He is the living stone people have rejected, but which God has chosen and highly honored. And now you are living stones being used to build a spiritual house. You are also a group of holy priests, and with the help of Jesus Christ you will offer sacrifices that please God. It is just as God says in the Scriptures, “Look! I am placing in Zion a choice and precious cornerstone. No one who has faith in this one will be disappointed.” You are followers of the Lord, and this stone is precious to you. But it isn't precious to those who refuse to follow him. They are the builders who tossed aside the stone that turned out to be the most important one of all.
1 Peter 2:4-7 - CEV
Over and over in the Bible we are encouraged to be like Jesus! The most amazing thing about following Jesus is this: We don’t change ourselves into someone like Him. He changes us so we can be like Him.
Jesus takes us where we are and like a potter who makes a pot, He shapes us into His own image so we can be like Him! We cannot die for our own sins, but we do “take up our cross and follow Him.”
The “Free Will” that God has given man enables the created one to say “No” to God. We can refuse to be shaped into the image of Jesus, or we can yield to the call of God on our lives and let Him do His work in us.
When you see a beautiful piece of pottery on display you would never think of praising the pot for the beauty it displays. In the same way we cannot praise a man who God has formed into the image of Jesus!
When you try to spruce up your life so that it looks like Jesus, you are dealing in counterfeit art. The only real “Jesus-like” life is one that is crafted by the Lord, using a human being who gives himself daily to Jesus Christ!
“Lord Jesus, I give myself again to You today. Do what You will with my life. Make me into Your image so I can show everyone I encounter who You are and what You did for them. Praise Your Holy Name, now and forever, Amen!”
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