Christ In Me: Gloves Do Work?

Hello Friends,

Can you believe that it is OFFICIALLY FALL?! Just before 8:00am this morning, Fall arrived at our doorsteps. Pretty soon the leaves will change from their green color to an array of majestic colors like red, yellow, and orange. Pretty soon those leaves will be raked into giant piles all over the yard. Pretty soon people will be walking around wearing sweatshirts and long pants. Pretty soon neighborhoods will be hosting weekend wiener roasts and making s’mores. Pretty soon families will spend their Sunday afternoons watching football on television while eating homemade chili. Pretty soon we will all be wanting Summer to return! Fall has officially begun!

Although I enjoy everything Fall–especially drinking that first mug of hot chocolate–what I enjoy most of all is the reminder that with the change of seasons comes a change in ourselves. During the Fall, you will see many people outside doing yard work; getting their yards ready for the winter. They are preparing for what comes next. Fall is the season of change and work. We change our yard through the work that we put in, and we change ourselves by the work we do to better ourselves. Fall is the season where we work and let things go. And as we let things go, we are creating more room within our heart for Jesus. Let me explain…

The Apostle Paul wrote to the people of Galatia–near present day Turkey in the east–about having Christ within them. This is what he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). (Paul writes about the same thing in his letter to the people of Rome.)

One day I had some work to do around the house to get ready for Fall, so I went to the store and bought some work gloves. I don’t know why they call them work gloves–they don’t do any work. I mean they are flat and lifeless: when I bought them from the store they were laying in a bin with other gloves. What do you think it will take to get these gloves to do any work? That’s right! I have to put my hands inside the gloves. They won’t do a thing until I put my hand inside them.

Once I put my hands in the work gloves, they can do all sorts of things. They can hammer nails, rake leaves, and hoe in the garden. They can open doors and lift and carry all kinds of heavy objects. They can trim bushes and pull weeds. They can mow the yard and cut down dead limbs from the trees. They can spread mulch and they can even get the Christmas lights down from the top of the garage. Those work gloves can do a lot of work! As you know, of course, it isn’t the gloves that are doing the work. It is my hands inside the gloves that are doing the work.

You know, that is the same way it is with being a Christian. The apostle Paul explained it this way, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” We are the gloves of Christ and Christ is the hand guiding us to help him do his work on earth. I once read a poem that shared, “Christ has no body on earth: we are his hands and feet” because he lives in and through us. We need Jesus to help us do some work! However, sometimes we don’t think we need Jesus to help us.

Sometimes we may start thinking that we do some pretty great things on our own. We may brag about how many people we have told about Jesus or we might tell everybody about how much work we do around the church, or how we cleaned our room on our own, or how we helped someone in class on our own, or how we listened to our parents on our own. We might say, “Look at me. I do this and I do that, I, I, I…” Ay! Ay! Ay! We have it all wrong! “It is not I, but Christ who lives in me.” We were able to do all those things and so much more because Jesus lives within us. With Jesus living inside of us, we can do all things because he strengthens us.

The next time you start to think that you have done something great, remember the work gloves. They can do nothing without a hand inside. You and I can do nothing without Christ inside us. Instead of doing everything on your own this Fall, why not let Jesus help you? Let Jesus transform you this season into a “glove” that is ready to do some work for him!

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, help us to remember that apart from you, we can do nothing. Amen.

Your Friend, Holy Spirit!