Jesus Died For Us

He died so that we are made fresh and clean, given a new life, a new way of living, a new relationship, a new rule of God in our hearts and minds. Jesus does mind if we try to tack our Christianity on to our old ways. The new life demands an end to the old ways of behaviour, old attitudes, in fact, everything that does not fit with the command of putting God and the needs of others before ourselves.

Jesus calls for a division between faith and unfaith, good and evil, easy and hard. Jesus calls us to have a lifestyle that is opposed to that of the world. He calls us to let the light that came into our lives at our baptism shine into the dark places of our world where sin rules. Where there is light there can be no darkness.

These words of Jesus are a wake up call to his followers. The values and the way of life that the world is not the way Jesus has called us to. He has called us not simply to blend in but to stand against the sin that has taken control of the world. This stuff is outside our comfort zone, but it's the truth.

There is only one way that you and I are able to do this. The Letter to the Hebrews gives us the answer....

"Let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way … and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.
Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end" (Hebrews 12:1,2).