Scrooged

 

We are of God.  He who knows God hears us; he who is  not of God does not hears us.  By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4: 6 NKJV 

One of my favorite movies of all time is the film A Christmas Carrol with George C Scott as the venerable Scrooge.  It is Dicken's tale of redemption during the holidays.  I was pondering this film the other day as I thought about how we ourselves lose sight of our own identity at times.  It happens more than we'd like it to I'm sure.  Those moments where our flesh takes over and we lash out at others or treat someone wrongly.  We've been Scrooged.  Of course, all of this boils down to our own identity and being that person who we know that we are.  Was Scrooge really that selfish Ogre the first part of the movie showed him to be?  Or, as with many a Christian, had he simply forgotten who it is that he was inside.  I suggest that he had merely forgotten himself, only because I have been Scrooged more than a few times in my own life.  That's right, I have forgotten who it is that I am on more than a few occasions.  This begs the question, who are we?  Who am I?  Who is this man that I so easily forget and allow someone else to take over?  Well, perhaps the apostle Paul explains it best when he speaks to Christ Jesus living in us {Galatians 2:20}.  Did Paul, who went by Saul back in the day, know who he was as he persecuted the early church?  I think not.  He was unaware of his true identity.  However, he soon came to his own realization on a road to Damascus.  It was here where, as Paul tells it, that God chose to "Reveal His Son in me" {Galatians 1:15-16}.  That always seemed strange to me, that God would allow the man Saul to persecute His church so viciously before finally revealing to him who he really was.  Keep in mind that this had less to do with the church and more to do with Saul.  At the end of the day, Paul became one of the greatest defenders of Christ we have ever known.  Many have seen the love of the Father who revealed Himself in one had been so despised as Saul was.  

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Galatians 2: 20 NKJV 

I believe that this realization of Christ Jesus in us to be one of the most difficult concepts to understand.  Paul, in fact, referred to it as the "Mystery among the gentiles" {Colossians 1:27}.  I came to the realization of Christ in me a few years ago, and have struggled with many questions ever since.  We can read it through the scriptures.  We can claim to understand.  However, there are times when all it takes is a trigger and we suddenly forget who it is that we are.  That trigger may be a life event or someone provoking us to anger, yet if we fail to stop and realize who we are we will be caught up in something we will soon regret.  I, for one, do not want to be known as one who dwells in the behaviors of the world.  That's not who I really am.  Each and every time I have fallen into such behaviors I have regretted my decision to do so.  It may sound silly, but as we are faced with different situations, we do well to stop and take stock of what we are facing.  Knee jerk reactions do not do well here.  Then, as we contemplate our actions we ask ourselves the question, "Is this who I really am?"  Believe me, it does work eventually.  Eventually we will become so in tune with our knowledge of our own identity that we will instantly know Christ who is in us.  We will know in an instant whether our actions will glorify Christ in us...or reveal our flesh side once again.

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

~Scott~