To Carry Christ

What does it take to carry Christ?
written by Michael McBane

I stumbled upon something the other day that stirred in me through the night of my discovery. It was about Mary the mother of Jesus. Let me ask a question. Did Mary have a choice to be the mother of Jesus? The answer is yes.

But if we read the text (Luke 1:26 through 38) we will see that she had been favored by God. The angel told her so. Clearly her heart was tender and she had turned away from her own way to seek the heart of God. But she was troubled by this angelic greeting. She was not troubled by the angel visiting her, so was this more common then we would think?

Now the angel speaks to her of her purpose but not until she responds to his words is this destiny sealed, that is my opinion. She is also told that when the Holy Spirit comes upon her, it will over shadow her, here she will be given the seed of the mystery incarnate.

She was called by name, the angel of the Lord came to her in visitation. When was she chosen? It was when she decided at all costs to follow. Her heart, her mind, her spirit submitted and then her words validated her faith saying, “ For nothing shall be impossible with God. Behold, the bond slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” a convergence of heaven and earth occurred. Redemptions sparks were ignited and the seed of purpose and destiny was planted. Consider for a moment the stigmatism Mary carried in that culture concerning her blossoming body. Consider the discomfort of a stable birth. Consider the angelic visitation that demanded a journey at a less then convenient time to an unknown place and to perhaps a less then warm land to Jews. I pondered these things and felt the rumbling in my spirit toss about for in ways these things mirrored some patterns in my life. I suggest a meditation of the text referred to. There is much to build our faith here, in fact I will say it is a word in due season for many.

Mary in saying nothing is impossible with God was not validating presumptive faith or proclamations not birthed by God’s intrusion of purpose. She here was submitting to these impossible words and seeing beyond herself.

It was Mary’s response though that thundered over and over in me through the night.
And so in ways we to can carry the Christ and we may also find that we might loose tract of where He is as she did because He is about His Fathers business. Jesus was revealing the weight of being a follower. The stirring that was always there was now manifesting in deliberate actions.

As Christians we are called to follow, We must believe to follow yet belief alone will leave our hearts lagging behind. To follow one must love. The demons believe in Jesus have no doubt about this. Many Christians believe in Jesus but they do not love Him. What then challenges our hearts not once but continually. It is love. Our love must be cultivated, weeded, nurtured, exercised, it must be audible. It must proclaim its desire. To be silent in love is preposterous. Speaking about our love will enlarge it and it will bring it’s response.

We are all called to follow but few remain, it seems that they love their life more then Christ. This path has the pot holes of excuse, I must maintain this particular life style or that is not practical or its impossible, so they do not give with trust. They fail to step on the highway that Christ extends before them one step at a time. A highway of holiness that creates such. It is measured, this highway by our approach as we measure our entire being through the words. Hallowed be Thy name. Yes, I am repeating such again because it must be formed in us as our reality. It will unlock the gate that allows us to hear, “Come up here.”

But what is the next phrase of this prayer? “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Here we delight in walking away from what has restrained us. Because we allowed the words Hallowed be Thy name, to permeate us deeply. When we release the words Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven in a way that is in awe of God and we actually ignite the next phrase as an absolute because it is contained in the identity of God’s purpose. This is a total rearrangement of thought and process. The next line is, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

What is our bread? First it must be seen as in the inclusion of following because Christ Himself is our substance. This my friends is not a far fetched spiritual statement but a reality for those who like Peter know nothing but Jesus, it is He or death. Contained here is also a spirit of gratefulness that has no boundary, it fulfills Paul's words that neither life nor death can keep me from you. It is worship, it magnifies in all that it is. When we carry such we will dynamically change the room we are in. We will have an authority where our feet walk.

And so we are beckoned forward step by step to follow and as we partake of the daily bread found in Christ we utter these words, “Forgive me of my sins as I forgive those who sin against me.” Again first we are in awe and sense the need, the desire to be so pure as we follow into fellowship. But it is here we give up our life more by not holding onto offense and releasing life to all who have wronged us in any way.

We see our weakness now our our depravity surfaces and we ask, “Lord lead me not into temptation, deliver me from the evil one.” We want to walk so close to the one who has called our name. His love has captured us and our hearts echo the words of Mary, “Behold, the bond slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”

Consider the words found in John 3: 36, for they give us a very clear separation from being one who just believes and one who obeys. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

I think these are strong words, clearly it is not a question of going to heaven it is a question of seeing and living in the perspective and value and abundance of the Kingdom of God. So what in this case is the wrath of God. Simply put it is walking in incompletion without fullness or the vision of. You may believe the word but lack the power of its life. You may in fact do the stuff of miracles and not be a follower because you have run your own way.

I want to be a follower I want to be part of a follow ship that ignites fellowship. May this be so.

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