Mon Devotional

Daily Devotional 

from Touching Lives with Dr. James Merritt:

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20


Of all the almost 7 billion people on the planet, imagine you could build the average human being. I don’t mean by height and weight. I don’t even mean by personality. I mean by the way the average person thinks, lives, works, talks, sees the world and its priorities, and what they believe are the most important things to accomplish on this earth. Whatever that average person would be like, a true follower of Jesus should be radically different from that person. They should be as different as light is from dark. The difference should be because the follower of Jesus is not living an average, run-of-the-mill life. The follower of Jesus should be living a cross-shaped life.

What do I mean by a cross-shaped life? A cross-shaped life is a life that points people to Jesus by reflecting the Gospel. A person who lives this way is truly Christ’s ambassador, as the Apostle Paul wrote, because the way they live life every day demonstrates the character of God. This does not mean perfect living, but rather intentional, Gospel-centered living. So what will a cross-shaped life look like to the world?

Above all else, a cross-shaped life is abundantly joyful. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” The psalmist also wrote in Psalm 16:11, “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Salvation brings freedom like no other. This freedom transcends circumstances and feelings. In Christ, we are free from sin and its penalty…from death and its sting. As believers, our lives should be marked by abundant and indescribable joy in Jesus.

Anchored in this freedom is sacrificial living, the second quality of a cross-shaped life. In Christ, we are free to lay down our lives for His Kingdom and His people. We are free to throw worldly logic to the wind and chase the dreams He places in our hearts. The Apostle Paul wrote of this sacrificial living in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

If you are a Christ follower, is your life marked by abundant freedom exercised willingly in sacrificial living? As an ambassador of Christ, this is our calling...joyfully laying down our lives for others. Willingly serving out of the abundance of grace that God has poured into our lives.

Jesus, Thank You for the freedom that You purchased for me with Your blood on the cross. I pray that my life will point only and always to You in the choices I make each and every day. In Your name I pray, Amen.