1 Peter 2:21
“This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.”
What does it mean to be invited into the kind of life that Christ lived? Before your answer, read this story by Tony Campollo:
“Joe was a drunk, miraculously converted in a street outreach mission. Before his conversion he’d gained a reputation as a derelict and dirty wino for whom there was no hope. But following his conversion to Christ, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person at the mission. He spent his days there, doing whatever needed to be done. There was never anything he was asked to do that he thought was beneath him. Whether it was vomit left by some hungover alcoholic, of scrubbing filthy toilets, Joe did it all with a heart of gratitude. He could be counted on to feed anyone who wandered in off the streets and help them get settled in even when they couldn’t take care of themselves.
One evening, after the mission director delivered his evangelistic message to the usual crowd of sullen men with dropped heads, one of them looked up, came down to the altar and kneeled to pray, crying out to God to help him change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, ‘Oh God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!’ The director leaned over and said, ‘Son, wouldn’t it be better if you prayed to be made more like Jesus?’
After thinking about it for a few moments, the man looked up with an inquisitive expression and asked, ‘Is He like Joe?’
What does it mean to be invited into the kind of life that JEsus lived?
It means to love like Jesus loved.
Related Text:
John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
